Lost in Minecraft
by crazyguy408
Summary: When Vanellope finds a secret room in Game Central Station, she finds herself, Ralph, Felix and Sergeant Calhoun in a massive new world with seemingly no way out. But little do they know that someone, or something, is determined to make sure they never make it back to Litwak's.
1. Vanellope's News

QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!

The alarm wailed, warning the inhabitants of a particularly popular 8-bit video game that a new player has arrived, waiting to repair a certain penthouse that is destined for destruction at any moment.

"Alright everybody! Get to your start positions!" Called the game's tiny mustachioed leader. "Yes! Thank you, Gene. You heard him, hurry on up now before he sees us!" The citizens of the game hurriedly scurried off screen before the opening cut scene began playing.

"You ready, Felix?" Asked Gene, looking up at his games' protagonist. He wasn't a tall man, roughly around three feet in height, but he is very talented when it comes to restoring or rebuilding. He wore two yellow gloves and steel toed shoes, a blue cap atop his head with two F's on the front, his usual blue repair shirt and jeans that were held up by his utility belt which held his trusty golden hammer at his side. Fix-it Felix looked down at the NPC warmly. "You bet I am." Gene nodded and turned to face his fellow Nicelanders. He found Don, Mary, Deanna, and Norwood conversing amongst themselves quietly as they awaited their cue to enter. Gene squinted his eyebrows then let out a startled gasp.

"Where's Ralph?!" Felix's eyes widened as well. He hadn't even noticed that their bad guy wasn't present. He didn't know how he couldn't have noticed it, he always seems to make his presence known some way or another. "Jiminy! Where is he? Ralph? Quarter Alert!" He whispered loudly through cupped hands over his mouth. The other Nicelanders each had a worried expression on their face as well, heads turning and bobbing, each one trying to find their antagonist.

"Wait up! I'm coming!" Felix turned around and let out a sigh of relief. Running up to them from behind was the bad guy in question. He stood a breathtaking height of nine feet, wore a tired, worn out plaid T-shirt under maroon overalls with a strap hanging loose on his left shoulder. He had rusty red hair that stood up and wore no shoes to cover his gigantic feet. But the one thing everybody noticed about him first were his hands and how enormous they were. He strode up to Felix's side short of breath.

"Hey guys, sorry . . . About that. . . I, uh, over slept. I didn't miss it, did I?" Before Felix could reply, Gene spoke up. "No, but you almost did! How many times do we have to go through this, Ralph? You're almost always late and you never seem to-""Thank you, Gene! I'll take it from here," Felix interrupted before Gene could say any hurtful words to Ralph.

"No, you didn't miss it. But it would be much appreciated if you did try to be a little more on time than this. Just so we don't have to worry. . ." Ralph nodded. "Right. Got it. Sorry."

The sound of a quarter sliding down the slot and landing with a _plink _reached their ears and the choppy theme began to play. A boy appeared on the other side of the screen and his eyes were set on the stump that was lying right in the center of the screen. Felix smiled at his friend. "Go get 'em brother." Ralph took in a few deep breaths, bounced on the balls of his feet and swung his arms at his sides, rolling his head side to side as he did. Once he finished doing his exercise, he began walking over to the stump, listening to the game's 8-bit tune as he went.

As he walked, he could finally get a good look at the player. He had a face riddled with freckles and brown hair that reached down to brush the top of his rectangular glasses. Ralph reached the stump, stepped one foot in, then the other, let out a loud yawn and sleepily slid down into it, just as he always did. The gamers couldn't see it, but there was a large pocket under the stump big enough for him to rest in until his cue to come out approached.

But as he lowered his large, bulking body into the stump, he noticed that it felt a little more stuffy than usual in there. He squirmed and wiggled and grunted He let out a frightened gasp once he felt the lump against his side begin to move. He looked down and could hear the lump moan and groan, trying to position itself away from Ralph's side. His heart plummeted once he saw what the lump was.

The lump successfully squeezed itself between Ralph and the wall and was now sitting in his lap breathlessly. It was wearing a bright green hoodie and had raven black hair that was decorated with tiny pieces of candy and tied in a ponytail by what appeared to be a licorice whip. It also had a skirt that looks like it was made to resemble a candy wrapper. It also had leggings with a green swirling pattern on each leg. It looked up at him with its large, adorable hazel eyes and spoke.

"Oof, you really put the 'stink' in Stinkbrain, doncha?" Ralph's jaw dropped.

"_Vanellope_?! Oof!" On cue, the bulldozer chugged up next to the stump and began pushing it off to the side and to the junkyard. Ralph looked back down to the girl.

"What in the name of malware are you doing here?! You can't be here during arcade hours!" She waved off his concern and rolled her eyes. "You worry too much. I can handle myself you know." Ralph closed his eyes and shook his head. "I know! But," before he could finish, they both felt the stump stop moving and the sound of the bulldozer began to fade away. He looked back down to his friend and held up his finger.

"Hold on, stay here." Ralph rose to a standing position and poked his upper body above the stump and said his line. "HEY, YOU MOVED MY STUMP! AAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!" Vanellope couldn't help but giggle at her friends' overacting as he flailed his arms up and down. Even the player let out a little chuckle. Then the large construction vehicles drove in from the sides and began building the penthouse. Ralph made sure that the gamer wasn't paying any attention to him as he lifted himself out of the stump. Then he leaned down, reached in and scooped Vanellope in his hand and lifted her out of the stump as well.

Her eyes went wide with wonder as she watched the multi-story apartment being built virtually out of nothing inside the large, pixelated puffs of smoke the construction vehicles were making. Once the puffs of smoke faded away, they revealed a very tall building with four windows along each section. Once the vehicles backed up and were out of screen, the Nicelanders hopped joyfully through the double doors and ran up the stairs to get to their respected levels in time.

Vanellope let out a short shriek as Ralph quickly set her down on the edge of the stump. "Stay here and don't move until the game is over, understand?" He said sternly with a finger pointed at her. She saluted him in return. "Got it." He turned his back to her and trudged over to the side of the apartment. Once he was in position, he raised his fists in the air and said his famous line. "I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" Ralph turned to face the building and began climbing, smashing and punching and breaking every window or brick he saw.

He shimmied over to the far side, punched a large hole in it and grabbed the unlucky Nicelander in his massive grip. Without hesitation, Ralph reeled his hand back and threw the tiny being forward. The NPC shouted in fear as he was hurtled over toward the junkyard. Vanellope's eyes widened and ran behind the stump before the man fell right beside it. He picked himself up and dusted off his tuxedo. "Ugh, I hate my job." And with that, he turned his back to the stump and began walking back to the building off screen so the player wouldn't notice . . . just like he always did.

Vanellope let out her breath in relief that the small man didn't see her. Her attention was then redirected over to her best friend, who was now at the top of the penthouse, pumping both fists in the air and an angry expression on his face. Below him, four Nicelander citizens peeked their heads out of smashed windows and all shouted in unison, "FIX IT FELIX!" On cue, the lovable repair man scuttled up next to the building, grabbed his hammer which seemed to appear out of thin air right above him and said his signature line. "I CAN FIX IT!"

Vanellope turned her head to look at the player who was now gripping the joystick and moving it left and right. Felix, mirroring the controller's commands, jumped up to the nearest windowsill and hopped over to the first broken window. The player gave the 'fix' button a tap, causing Felix to hit the window with his hammer. But rather than breaking it even more, there was a happy _bling _and the window's image began to flicker before it stopped, revealing a newly restored window. Ralph squeezed his fists together and beat the roof mercilessly, causing a shower of bricks to fall directly over Felix.

The player evaded the bricks with ease and repaired the next window with a similar _bling. _And for a while, it was the same thing over and over again: jump, fix, dodge. Jump, fix, dodge. Vanellope's eyes began to droop in boredom until she heard a cheery "Yoohoo!" Her eyes shot open and looked back up to the building. She saw a female Nicelander open a window and place a smoking hot pie out on the sill. The player instantly led Felix over to the pie. He reached down, lifted it up and shoved the entire pie in his mouth. His body began to vibrate violently. Vanellope watched in awe as Felix instantly turned into a swirling fixing frenzy.

In what seemed like a heartbeat, he went from broken window to broken window. And each time he passed one, it seemed to fix itself without him even touching it. Felix then came to an abrupt halt and stood proudly on a sill, looking down at the fully repaired building. Text appeared in front of the penthouse reading 'you've fixed it!' Pixelated fireworks exploded behind the penthouse in celebration.

In an instant, Felix somehow teleported up to the roof right next to Ralph, who was now wearing a disappointed frown with his hands at his sides. The occupants of the building swarmed out of the door in a single file line, ran past Felix and stood at his left side, except for one Nicelander woman who remained at his right side. A medal with a blue ribbon around it materialized out of thin air and lowered itself down and hung itself around Felix's neck and the woman on his right leapt up and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

Then, all eyes turned to Ralph, and they looked angry. Vanellope leaned forward to get a better look. The tiny people charged forward, scooped Ralph up and carried him to the edge of the building. Once there, they tossed him over the side and he fell head over heels down the building until he landed in the mud with a squishy sounding _splat_. Text appeared over his body which read 'Level 1 Complete'. The player pumped his fist in the air in triumph.

After that, more and more stages followed, each consisting of the same thing: Ralph breaks, Felix fixes. Ralph destroys, Felix repairs. Ralph demolishes, Felix renews. Felix jumped and scuttled along the windows, fixing each one in an instant. And each time he finished, it resulted with an angry mob of tiny people throwing Ralph off of the roof.

The cycle continued until, finally, a certain brick that the player couldn't avoid. The brick hit him in the head and he did a full three sixty degree spin and fell on his back, hands folded over his chest with a flower between his fingers and funeral music sounded. Ralph flailed his arms in the air in triumph as the screen flashed the text 'Game Over'.

The player mumbled under his breath and walked away. Felix opened one eye and looked at the screen. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he jumped back onto his feet with a joyful _boing_ and dusted himself off. He looked up at Ralph with a smile on his face and waved. "Well done, brother. Now, let's get down and . . . Ralph?"

Ralph wasn't listening. He had his fists clenched and he appeared to be breathing heavily while looking over to the junkyard pile of bricks. "You alright there, Friend?"

Ralph walked over to the edge of the roof and started to climb down. Felix could hear the wrecker grumbling something under his breath as he continued his descent. As he passed Felix's current level, he didn't even spare him a glance. "Uh, Ralph?" He continued climbing down. "Hold on, Felix." Once he had about seven stories left to go, he decided he didn't want to climb anymore and just let go. He landed on the ground with a hard thud which shook Felix to his core. He looked down and saw Ralph now making a beeline towards his stump which resided at the base of the massive brick pile.

"Ralph! Wait up!" Felix leapt down from window to window until he was on the ground once again and ran for Ralph, wondering how he could help whatever it was that was eating him up inside.

Ralph thundered up to his stump with an anxious Vanellope sitting on it. "Wow, Ralphie! You were great! That player could barely keep up with your mad breaking skills! Oh, Ralph, you've outdone yourself-. ""Save it! Just tell me, what exactly possessed you to game jump while the arcade is open?" She stopped. "Oh, that. Well, I just thought that-. ""Thought what? What could you possibly be thinking?" She narrowed her large eyes at him. "Well, if you can just cool down your hot tamale's and let me finish I'd be glad to tell you!"

"Ralph! Hey Ralph!" The two stopped their arguing and Ralph turned around to see Felix quickly making his way up to them, chest heaving heavily as he came. "Ralph . . . Ralph, I uh, wanted to . . . to talk to you. You seemed upset back there and I wanted to," His eyebrows knitted as he leaned to his side and saw Vanellope standing on Ralph's stump, looking at him confusedly. "V-Vanellope?! What, what are you doing here little lady?" He asked, trying to keep his kind attitude. She snorted. "Well, I _was_ going to tell Ralph something cool, apparently his overalls are in a bunch and he feels like being a big fat jerk!"

"I'm only trying to,"" That's quite enough. Ralph, could you, uh, give us a moment please?" Ralph's gaze switched from Felix to Vanellope then back to Felix. Then he threw his hands in the air, turned his back to the two of them and trudged away. Felix let out a discouraged sigh, took off his hat and looked at Vanellope with wide eyes.

"Why does he have to be so mean to me?" She asked with crossed arms. "I take the day off of the roster and come all the way over here to tell him something really cool, and for what? To get yelled at by captain grump over here? Well, if he thinks that I'm going to put up with it, he can kiss my big, fat presidential,"" Ok! Ok," Felix interrupted. He sighed. "Look, I know Ralph can be a little, uh, let's see, how do I put this?" "How he can be a big headed, overbearing, stuck up jerk?" Felix fiddled with his fingers. "Yeah." Vanellope grunted.

"Listen, I know how he can be, but you have to understand that he's just acting the way he is now because, well, he cares about you." "Really? Cuz it doesn't really look that way right now." "He'd be devastated if anything were to happen to you. You're his whole world, Vanellope. If you were to get hurt or, Litwak forbid, somehow," he gulped, "_deleted_, he would never forgive himself. He cares about you that much. He's only looking out for you and he wants what's best for you. You know that, don't you?" She sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Felix smiled warmly and held out his hand. She smiled shyly in return, grabbed his hand and he helped her off of the stump. "Now wait right here." He patted her head and walked back over to Ralph, who had his back turned to them rocking on his feet and arms crossed, silently grumbling to himself. Felix came up to his side and patted his arm. The wrecker looked down. "Go talk to her. And, take it easy. You know she means well." He sighed. "I know. I know." Felix gave him one last pat on the arm and walked back to the penthouse.

Ralph turned around and saw Vanellope still standing by the stump. He clapped his hands and rubbed them together, sighing loudly. He walked over to her and knelt down, resting his elbow on his knee. He placed his hand on his temples and slowly lowered down his face. "Look, kid, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just, don't know what I would do with myself if something were to ever,"" I know, Felix told me all about that." He sighed again. "But I still want you to know that game jumping while the arcade is open is very dangerous. You could be seen outside your game. And I don't know if you know this, but if that were to happen, it wouldn't be good." Vanellope sighed too. "I know."

Ralph nodded. "But, you're here, you're not hurt, and also came with news." He chuckled a little. "And you went through all this trouble to say it. So . . . What's up?"

Her face immediately lit up. "Well, did you see Litwak walking around with that plug in looking thing?" Ralph scratched his chin and had a quizzical look on his face. Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes I do."

Vanellope nodded. "Well, he plugged that into Sugar Rush! We got an upgrade!" Ralph's eyes bugged out. "W-Wow, Vanellope that's great! What's changed?"

"Nothing too major," she said while pacing back from side to side. "Each and every one of our karts have their own special abilities!" "That is good news, kid. What can your kart do now?" She stomped both of her feet up and down and squealed excitedly.

"You'll have to come and see for yourself. It's that good!"

Ralph squinted his eyebrows. "So let me get this straight: You come over to my game during the work day and tell me that I absolutely have to see something at your game and I can't even see it until the day is over? Why didn't you just wait until the day was done to come tell me?"

She shrugged innocently. "I was so excited! I couldn't wait." He sighed and chuckled halfheartedly. "Oh, I will never understand you, kid." She giggled. "I promise, at the end of the day, we'll go over and I'll check it out with you. Deal?" She nodded. "Deal." She jumped up and latched onto his arm like a leech. He put his arm over her and hugged her softly. They let go and she jumped to the ground.

"Well, since you're here, you might as well watch me do my job for the entire day." She smiled nervously and chuckled lightly. "Hey, you're the one who decided to game jump. Not me."

QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!

Ralph looked back and saw Felix and the Nicelanders assuming their positions.

"Stay right here." She nodded and watched him walk off to the other side of the map.

_Later_,

The sound of go-kart engines drowned out the sounds of the roaring grandstands in the sugar coated world of Sugar Rush. The current player kept her foot on the gas pedal and watched the peanut butter cup themed boy mirrored her exact motions in his kart, which resembled his theme. The boy with blond hair and peanut butter cup hat cut in front of the girl with a candle on her head and was now neck and neck with the cherry pie themed girl (She could never remember their real names).

The player shifted gears and pressed harder on the accelerator and Rancis went rocketing by her. The finish line was rapidly approaching and the sounds of the cheering assortments of candy came rushing back. He crossed the checkered ground and tiny candy sprinkles were raining down as confetti. He swerved to a stop and waved to the cheering fans. The player pumped her fist in the air and laughed excitedly as the screen now showed her peanut butter avatar standing on a podium and a trophy floated down into his hands. He gripped it in both hands and held it proudly over his head as more confetti was launched in celebration.

"Alright kids, last call! Finish up your game and have a good night." She turned her head and saw several kids walking out the door of the arcade. The friendly arcade owner, Stan Litwak, holding the door open for them as they went. The girl sighed and looked back to the screen to see her racer still holding his trophy with pride. She hopped out of the driver's seat and made her way out the door as well. Mr. Litwak looked inside once more to see if all the kids have exited the arcade. Once he was sure, he closed the door behind him and locked it. He put his keys in his breast pocket and walked out of sight.

Rancis blinked, held the trophy limply at his side and scanned the screen in front of him. He sighed and looked down. "It's all clear. They're gone." His fellow racers let out an exhausted sigh in unison. "Wow. What a day. I thought it'd never end," breathed Jubileena with a hand on her chest. "Who knew that just sitting down could get so tiring?" Asked Swizzle, shrugging his shoulders as he did. The others murmured in agreement. Rancis stepped off of the podium and rejoined his friends.

He squinted his eyebrows and looked through the crowd of brightly colored children. "Hey, where did Vanellope go?" A girl in a bright, sparkly pink race jacket answered. "You didn't see her? She left this morning to go over to that big ape's game for some reason. Seriously, I don't even know what she sees in him." Rancis sighed disappointedly through his nose.

_Ah man, she missed it. I finally win and she missed it. _

"Well, he did save our game. Remember?" Asked Citrusella. "Well, duh I remember! I just don't get why she keeps hanging around with him all the time." "And did you notice that other player a few games back?" Asked Gloyd. "She was really disappointed when Vanellope wasn't on the roster. Did you guys notice that?" The others nodded their heads. "Well, there's always tomorrow. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see what else my upgraded kart can do!" Said Minty. But before she even made her first step, they all heard a distant noise.

_THUMP THUMP THUMP _

Minty and the other racers turned around to see a familiar giant making his way past the grandstands and onto the racetrack, approaching the winner's circle where they gathered. Rancis' face lit up once he saw the tiny green figure riding on the hulking wrecker's shoulder.

"Sour drops," Taffyta cursed quietly, "him again."

Ralph climbed on the stairs and onto the winner's circle platform, smiling awkwardly at the children in front of him. Vanellope waved at her friends excitedly before she vanished in a blue puff of pixels off of his shoulder and appeared right in front of them. "Hello everyone! I'm back!" They turned to their ruler and waved back. "Hi President Vanellope!" She gestured back towards Ralph. "You all remember Ralph?" Their heads craned upwards to meet his gaze. They put on nervous smiles and waved. "H-hi Ralph." Taffyta only put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Vanellope turned to Ralph with a confused expression plastered on her face. "Uh, Ralph? Don't be rude now! Say hi to everyone!" Ralph's eyebrows raised instantly. "Oh. Right! Uh, let's see," he scanned the crowd of racers pointing to them individually and muttering under his breath. "Um, yeah. Hi there, Peanut Butter Lad and uh, Cherry Cheryl, and . . . Uh, Gum, Ball, McGee?" Rancis, Jubileena and Swizzle drooped their shoulders downward and stared at him with expressions on their faces that basically said 'You kidding me?'

"Really?" Vanellope asked with her hands on her hips. He looked back down to her. "Oh come on! It's not my fault that you all have ridiculous names! The only one I can really remember is Candlehead!" He gestured his massive hand in the girls' direction. Everyone turned to face her, but she paid them no mind as she folded her hands and rocked on her heels, obliviously staring off into the distance while humming something to herself.

"Which reminds me," Gloyd spoke up. Ralph watched as the boy in an orange jacket and pumpkin hat tip toe behind the green haired girl. He licked his thumb and pointer finger and squeezed the wick of her candle, extinguishing the flame with a _hiss_. Vanellope and the other racers gasped in shock and stared at Candlehead, expecting her to explode into a massive tantrum at the boy.

But she never did.

Gloyd ran backwards and hid behind Snowanna, peeking over her shoulder with a satisfied smirk waiting to watch Candlehead flip out. His eyes squinted in confusion when she didn't. Vanellope raised her finger slowly and spoke up "Um, Candlehead?" The oblivious girl blinked and turned to Vanellope. "Yes, Miss President?" "Um, aren't you upset?" Candlehead snorted. "Of course not! Why would I be?" Vanellope looked up at her extinguished candle then back down to her. "Well for starters, Gloyd just put out your candle. You hate it when that happens, don't you?" Candlehead knitted her eyebrows then looked up. "Oh, hey, look at that. It is out," she observed.

"And, you're not mad?" Taffyta asked from behind. She shook her head. "Nope. Here, watch. Give it a sec." Everyone's eyes squinted in confusion and they looked back up to her candle.

_Pop_

A tiny spark ignited and disappeared right next to the wick. Everyone blinked in shock as another spark came and so did another _pop. _Then another one appeared, but this time, the wick began to glow a bright orange. Everyone's eyes went wide with wonder as her candle reignited itself. "Wow," they all said, staring at her in utter disbelief.

"How did you do that?" Crumbelina asked. "Hm? Oh! See, I replaced my old candle with one of those trick ones so that I don't have to worry about my candle going out again," she said proudly. Gloyd revealed himself from behind Snowanna and sighed. "Well Candlehead, we've gotta hand it to you. That's probably the smartest thing you've done."

"What is?" Gloyd's face returned to its original confused stare. "Um, your candle?" He said, pointing to it. She let out a tiny laugh. "My what?" She stared up and her eyes grew wide with horror. "Sweet and sour milk duds! My head's on fire!" Everyone's jaws dropped and stared at the oblivious child.

"Anyhoo," Vanellope spoke up, drawing everyone's attention back to her and Ralph. "How about we get down to business." They all nodded their heads in agreement, except for Candlehead, who was holding onto her hat and staring at the flame in fear. "Alright, I brought Ralph with me this fine and dandy afternoon because he _insisted_ that he wanted to see what our karts can do." He stared down at her with an expression that was a combination of shock and annoyance. "Hey! You're the one who,"" So I brought him here to show him! Everyone to your karts!"

None of them moved. They all stood there with nervous smiles and just stared at him.

Vanellope turned to them confusedly. "Um, you guys coming or what?" Taffyta cleared her throat and walked up. "Well, Miss President, it's not that we don't want to use our new upgrade, it's just that, well," she stared accusingly at Ralph, "accidents happen, you know?" Vanellope stared at her, not believing what she was hearing. "What, what are you saying?" The strawberry themed racer gulped and rocked on her heels, still staring at Ralph. "Wait, you're afraid he's going to break your guys' karts? That's ridiculous! Ralphie here may look tough, but once you get to know him, he's just a big, misunderstood sour patch kid."

"Still," Taffyta continued, "we're not exactly comfortable with him around." Ralph stared down at the girl with an eyebrow raised. "Plus, remember the time when he destroyed the grandstands?" Adorabeezle asked and everyone nodded and murmured in agreement. "But that's because he was chasing me! He was just trying to,"" Look Vanellope," Taffyta interrupted, "we know that you're protecting your friend here, but we still aren't comfortable around him. After all, he did almost destroy our game." Vanellope gasped in shock at the words that just escaped the girls' mouth.

"Oh, so you're holding that against him, are you? 'Cuz last time I checked, he's also the one who was ready to sacrifice himself to save it! Well, hey, I might as well hold all of you accountable for all those years of torment and rejection you put me through!" Taffyta held up her gloved hands defensively. "That's not what we're trying to say, we're just,"" Just what, Taffyta?" Taffyta sighed and lowered her head. "I'm not going to put up with this right now, and I'm especially not going to let you guys talk to my friend this way."

She spun on her heel and walked past Ralph and off of the winner's circle. "C'mon Ralph. We don't need them for this anyway." Ralph turned to look at all the racers and their defeated faces, then he sighed and followed his friend.

Her kart was directly behind the starting line and in front of all the others karts. She hopped in and started the engine. Ralph walked up to the kart and sat carefully on the rear fender made out of a purple wafer. She shifted gears and pushed down on the accelerator, propelling the sloppily made kart forward, leaving Taffyta and the rest of the racers standing alone and saddened on the winner's circle. Taffyta sighed and walked forward and to her own kart. Soon, the rest of the racers followed suit, going to their own karts and speeding off.

Except for Rancis.

He remained alone on the winner's circle platform, holding his trophy sadly at his side. He let out a sigh of disappointment and watched his friend zoom away and out of view.

Vanellope and Ralph reached Diet Cola Mountain and passed through the secret entrance, entering the dark and warm cave that Vanellope used to call home. She screeched to a halt right at the edge of the hot springs. Ralph looked up and marveled at the hundreds of Mentos mints dangling precariously over the pool of scorching hot liquid.

Vanellope hopped out of the kart and paced back and forth, grumbling under her breath. "Stupid Taffyta and her stupid grudge holding skills. Why can't she just accept that you're not a monster and just,"" Vanellope," Ralph interrupted, but she continued. "I mean, you did destroy the grandstands but that's because I stole from you and you were just,"" Vanellope," he tried again. "Why can't she and the others just be nice to you and give you a chance like I did?" She stopped pacing and looked up at her friend.

Ralph closed his eyes and sighed. He stepped off of the rear of the kart and knelt down over her. "Look kid, I know you don't like it, but its ok," he reassured. "I'm used to being treated like that." "Well you shouldn't be," she said crossing her arms over her chest. "I know you're just looking out for me, and you have no idea how much that means to me, but you have to understand that sometimes there are just things that you can't really change." She sighed sadly. "I know. I just wish there was something I could do to stop it."

"So do I, kid. So do I." He stood back up and rubbed his hands together. "Well, let's not throw ourselves a pity party. You said you have something to show me?" Her face lit up. "Right! You're gonna love this!" She glitched herself back into the driver's seat and started the engine. She backed up a few feet then stopped. "Come here," she said, gesturing with her finger to come closer. He obeyed and came up next to the kart, peering down at his friend.

"See this button?" She pointed to a large, red, blinking button down on her dashboard. He nodded. "Watch." She pushed it and immediately, a small compartment opened in the hood with a hissing noise, then some object began to rise from it. It looked like a water pistol but slightly larger with a sight on the top of it. Ralph looked at the foreign object carefully. "Now watch this!" She held on to her steering wheel and began turning it in specific ways. The gun looking contraption on the hood of her kart began to swivel and pivot upwards, aiming the barrel at the Mentos over their heads.

Vanellope stuck out her tongue and pushed the red button again. A claw with three fingers pushed itself out of the barrel and it snapped open quickly. Then it burst out of the barrel with blinding speed with a long strand of red rope being fed out of the barrel connected to the claw. It soared upwards until it hit a single Mentos mint and latched itself tightly. There was a whirring noise and Ralph realized that it was coming from the gun on Vanellope's kart. The red rope pulled back and the Mentos that the claw was holding onto snapped off. It let itself go of the mint and retreated quickly back into the barrel. The mint fell in the cola with a _splash _and immediately exploded with a mighty FFFLLLLWWWWWOOOOOOSSSSHHHHH.

A massive geyser of hot cola erupted upwards, sending the hot liquid shooting everywhere. Ralph ducked and dodged out of the way of the cola, not wanting to be burned once again. The geyser fell down and the pit was calm once again.

Ralph held onto his chest and heaved deeply, attempting to catch his breath. Vanellope looked up at him excitedly. "My kart gets a grappling gun! Now I can latch onto the racers ahead of me and bring them down to my position! Isn't that cool?" Ralph stared back down to her. "Um, yeah. Cool." His eyes darted back down to the dashboard and he raised his eyebrow. "Hey, kid, what's that?"

He pointed to an object next to the blinking red button. A blue, electronic screen with the number two was shown. She raised her eyes and said, "Oh, that's the indicator. You see, I do get a totally awesome grappling gun, but there's a catch. I can only use it three times per race. Because I just used it, I've got only two left until the next race starts." "Ah," Ralph said as he nodded his head in confirmation.

He rubbed his hands together and looked around the cave. "So uh, now what?"

Vanellope's face went from excited to confused as she too looked around. "You know, I don't really know either. This was pretty much what I wanted to show you. What do you think?" He smiled down to his friend. "It's awesome, kid. But how about we do something a little less life-risking? Let's head on over to Tapper's, whaddya say?" She smiled and nodded. "Hop on!"

Ralph sat back on the wafer and she turned the kart around and sped out the exit, heading for the rainbow bridge.

_Later_,

The two of them jumped off of the five-car train as soon as it stopped at the loading deck. Vanellope ran ahead of Ralph, heading for the entrance to Game Central Station. "Hey kid, wait up! I'm not as fast as you, remember?" She came to a halt and stood impatiently for a few seconds, waiting for her friend to catch up. As soon as he was close enough, she walked forward and entered the massive, golden room.

Vanellope had been in here about a million times when she goes to visit Ralph, but this place never fails to amaze her with its vastness and the all-round giganticness of the entire place. It isn't as big as Sugar Rush, but it's still impressive. The two of them passed character after colorful character, each one ranging from tiny and weak to enormous and scary. But Vanellope held her head high and walked straight toward their destination.

The red digital sign blinked and scrolled the word 'Tapper's' over the large opening. Not needing anymore invitation, she continued forward . . . Then stopped.

Ralph walked past her, not even realizing he did and kept on going. Vanellope, frozen in her tracks, was looking at something she had never noticed in GCS before. She felt silly for not even noticing it, she'd been to Tapper's multiple times with Ralph, but this is the first time she's seen this. To the right side of the opening into Tapper's was a door. Not a giant, gaping door like the others that led to a new world, it was just a regular, plain old door.

Once she noticed that there were words on the door, she squinted her eyes so that she could read it fully.

WI-FI ROOM

AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

DO NOT ENTER

She knitted her eyebrows in confusion and stared at the door.

_What's in there? What the heck is Wi-Fi?_

"Hey! You coming, kid?" She blinked and stared ahead of her. Ralph had turned around and was waiting directly under the digital sign for his friend. "What's wrong?"

"Um," she started, "Nothing. I'm coming."


	2. Questions and Answers

"Kid? Hey, kid? You listening?"

"Hm?"

Vanellope rested her arm on the countertop and lied her chin down on top of it, playing with the straw in her mug full of root beer, not paying her friend any mind. "I asked if you were alright." Vanellope looked up to see Ralph resting one elbow on the counter and looking down at his friend.

"Hm? Oh, yeah! Yeah, I'm fine." Ralph looked at her questioningly. "You sure? You've barely touched your root beer." Her eyes darted to her root beer and she immediately started sucking on the straw as fast as possible. His eyes darted open and his mouth hung slack as she continued to scarf down the cold beverage. She didn't stop until she was about three quarters done. She removed her lips from the straw and took in a deep breath. She stared at him with her signature wide eye stare.

"See? Told you, I'm," before she could finish her lie, her eye twitched and she bit her bottom lip fiercely. She grabbed her proportionally large head and let out multiple moaning noises as what seemed like a piercing cold icicle was drilling itself into it. "Ohhhhh, ohh, oh, ohhhhhhh!" Ralph snorted amusedly and raised an eyebrow. "Brain freeze?" She nodded quickly and closed her eyes tightly. Ralph took another sip from his mug.

He brought the mug back down to the table with a refreshed "Ah," and wiped his mouth clean from the foam.

He looked to the side and saw the owner of the root beer parlor going from bar to bar and sliding cups and mugs down to the customers who were waiting for their drink, whistling his games' tune as he did. Once he was done serving the last row, he wiped his hands together and strolled over to Ralph and Vanellope, propping his elbow on the counter and leaning towards them. "And how are my favorite duo doing?" His eyes darted to Ralph. "You want another refill, big guy?" Ralph looked down at his drink. "Um, no. I'm good." The kind bartender nodded and looked over at the younger customer. "And how about you, darling? Want some more?"

Vanellope was still clutching her head tightly and groaning loudly, but her eyes went to Tapper and she nodded. He let out a little chuckle, grabbed her mug and brought out the hose from under the bar. He set it back in front of her as soon as the foam reached the edge of the glass. "You take it easy now. I know you come from a land of sugar, but a brain freeze can just about do anyone over."

She let go of her head, inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. Her eyes opened and relief crossed over her face. "Thanks, Mr. Tapper." He let out another chuckle and journeyed back to the other tables.

Ralph looked back down to his friend. "So Vanellope, like I was saying before, you wanna tell me what's up? You aren't as talkative as you usually are when we visit Tappers."

She sighed. "I'm just thinking about Taffyta and the other racers." Ralph remained silent and looked down to his friend. "How can they still treat you like that after all you've done for our game? I mean, I understand that they can feel a little, um, scared around you, after all, they don't know you the way I do. But they could at least say 'hi' or at least wave every once in a while, couldn't they?" Ralph reached down and pulled her bangs away from her eyes.

"Kid, I know you don't like it, and, yeah, I guess a wave here or there would be appreciated, but it's like I said before, there's not a whole lot we can do to change how they feel or how they see me." She looked sadly at her mug of root beer. "But you know what?" She looked back up at him with wide eyes. "It doesn't matter what they think, and I don't care about what Taffyta or the others think of me, either! All that matters is that you're my best friend in the whole world. And you've taught me that being a bad guy isn't necessarily a bad thing. You have no idea how much that means to me."

She let out a shy smile, but then looked down at her feet sadly, which were dangling barely over the edge of the bar stool. He reached down and lifted her gaze back up to him. "So I don't care about what they think. All I care about is you." Her smile grew slightly wider. "Besides, it's not like I'm not used to being treated like that. I have been through that for thirty years, I know how to handle myself."

Vanellope sat up straighter in her seat. "Is what I'm saying making any sense?" She nodded. He nodded in return. "Good." He took another drink from his mug. Vanellope looked down at hers and began playing with the straw once again. She rested her chin on her hand and her face twisted itself into another confused expression.

"Hey Ralph?" Ralph was still drinking from his mug, chugging down every ounce of root beer he had. "Hm," he grunted, showing her she had his attention.

"Do you know what wee fee is?"

"Hm?" His eyes turned downward to see her and he raised his eyebrows while still taking a swig at his drink.

"Well, when we came into Tapper's earlier, I saw this door that said 'wee fee room'. What is it?"

Ralph lowered his mug and swallowed. "Oh, no," he laughed a little to himself. "It's not wee fee kid. It's Wi-Fi." Vanellope didn't appear to be any more enlightened. She still questioningly stared at him, not understanding what the new word meant. "Which means . . ." she urged him to continue.

"See kid," Ralph started, "Wi-Fi allows people to connect to what's called the internet." Her eyebrows scrunched down and her lips puckered. "What's the internet?" He took another quick sip. "The internet is where people go to get information that they're looking for. They search for it and the internet brings them to where the answer to their question. You can almost find anything on it."

Vanellope's eyes widened in astonishment. "Wow." Ralph nodded. "But that's not all, people can also use the internet for entertainment! They can find funny videos, play games, chat with friends, etcetera." He took another drink and finished his beverage with a satisfied "Ah." Vanellope looked back up at him. "Ralph, can we go to the Wi-Fi room next, then?" She asked excitedly.

His eyes widened and he looked down at her, the look of surprise on his face clearly confusing her. "What?"

"Can we go to the Wi-Fi room?" She repeated. "If you said that everyone else goes there, why can't we?" Ralph lightly gasped. "Oh no, no, no, no," he said frantically, waving his hands in front of her. "When I said 'people', I meant _actual _people, not characters like us," he corrected. "Sometimes people at the arcade take out these, um, weird rectangle things and they can go on the internet that way. The Wi-Fi room you're talking about exists because that's where the connection to the internet comes from. Does, uh, that make any sense to you?"

Her pointer finger and thumb were pressed against her chin and her eyes darted from side to side, trying to make sense out of what was just told to her.

"I guess so. But I still don't get why _we _can't go in."

"Vanellope, the internet is a big, _big_ place," he reasoned. "If we went in, there's no telling if we'd be able to make it back out in time before the arcade opens, we might not even make it out of there at all!" Vanellope waved him off with a "Pffffft," and looked back up at him. "You worry too much. Anybody ever tell you that?" He looked down at her in bewilderment.

"Worry to mu-? Vanellope, the internet is dangerous! I'm not going to allow you to put yourself in danger again." She looked back up at him, irritation clear in her eyes. "I thought we went through this already. I'm able to take care of myself. I may be programed as a kid, but that doesn't mean I can't go in and,"" You're missing the point," Ralph interrupted.

"This isn't about how well you can look out for yourself. What I'm trying to tell you is that if you go in there, there's a million to one chance that you'll make it back out! You could even be deleted! Do you want that to happen?" She lowered her head. "Well, no, but I,"" Then this discussion is over." Ralph hunched his back down and rested his elbows back down onto the table, his eyebrow pointed downward in anger and frustration, and let out a long sigh.

Vanellope pushed her chair away from the table and hopped down. "Fine." Ralph turned his head and watched her walk over to the exit.

"Vanellope, don't you even think about going to that room," he warned. She turned and faced him. "I'm not going to that stupid room. I'm going home. I'll see you later, Jerkbrain." She turned around and walked through the exit and out of sight. He huffed. "Well fine! Go home and pout! Sooner or later you've got to realize that I'm just trying to protect you, and you can't always get what you want!" He clenched his teeth together and took in deep breaths.

He was so focused on the door that he didn't even realize the entire tavern go deathly silent as the customers stopped what they were doing and looked at Ralph in curiosity and fear. Ralph, still consumed in anger and irritation, didn't even realized that he had gotten up from his chair and fully facing the exit with both hands curled into fists.

He let out a long sigh and turned around. His face went from anger to confusion as he noticed all eyes glued to him. Tapper was frozen in place with his hand on a nozzle and root beer pouring out and overflowing the mug in his hand. Ralph looked around and saw Sonic, Ryu, Peter Pepper and other characters staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths.

His eyes narrowed. "What are all of you looking at?" Their eyes widened more and then they immediately went about their business, talking and drinking with other characters. Ralph grunted and sat back down. He reached down and picked up his mug only to realize that he has already drunk it dry. He set it back down and rustled his hands in his hair.

He just sat there with his head resting in his hands and stared at the empty mug.

_Why does she have to be so stubborn? Why can't she just see that I'm trying to do what's best for her? _

He went through his mind, asking questions that he himself couldn't fully answer. He went racking through his brain, trying to come up with some sort of approach as to handle the situation with Vanellope and to make her listen to reason.

But none came to mind.

"Well hey there, partner!"

His eyebrow squinted and he turned around to see Felix entering the tavern with his wife, Tamora Calhoun. Ralph sighed once again as he saw the taller woman dressed in full body armor with blond bangs hanging just above her eyes. The Sargent isn't much for social protocol, but she put on her best fake smile and waved half-heartedly.

Ralph merely spared them a backwards glance and turned his back to the two of them.

Felix's face twisted from happy to worry as he watched his friend sadly turn away from the two of them. He looked up to his wife with a frown which she returned. They both walked up next to Ralph and sat on the two chairs to his right.

"Ralph? You ok there, pal?" He looked down at his games' hero. "I'm fine Felix," he reassured. "It's just Vanellope." Calhoun looked over to him. "You know, we saw her walking over to her sugar infested nightmare of a game as if someone spat in her Yoohoo. So what's the deal, Wreck-it? What happened with you and the pipsqueak?"

Ralph looked to the sarge and was about to explain, but he was interrupted once again by her.

"Hold that thought. Hey Tapper! The usual."

Tapper looked up from the mug he was wiping and smiled. "Comin' right up, Ma'am." He strolled over to the large barrels at the side of the game and poured a glass of root beer which was then topped with whipped cream and a cherry and Tapper slid the drink down to her waiting hand. "Much obliged." She raised the mug to her lips but stopped once she saw the questioning glance she was getting from Ralph. "What? There's nothing wrong with a commanding officer having a refreshing drink with whipped cream and cherries after a hard day's work," she shrugged.

She brought the mug to her mouth and gulped down almost a quarter of the mug and brought it down to the table, licking the whipped cream from her lips. Ralph was still staring at her, dumbfounded that such a rough and tough woman could enjoy such a childish drink. Once she saw his mouth hook in an awkward smile, she practically exploded. "Wreck-it, if you even _breath_ a word about this to my men, I will personally rip off your ears cram them up your hindquarters just so you can hear me kicking your,"

"OK! Ok Tammy, that'll do," Felix raised his hands and cut her off before she could finish her threat. She sat back down and took another sip.

"Jeepers, what's with all the potty mouths today?" Calhoun chuckled to herself and Ralph just continued to sit there with his chin resting in his massive palms. Felix cleared his throat. "So Ralph, about you and Vanellope . . . ?"

Ralph dropped his hands to the table and stared at the two of them.

"I don't know. It's just, she really wanted me to show her the Wi-Fi room and,"

"The Wi-Fi room?!" Felix quickly interrupted. "Oh my land, why would she ever want to go into such a dangerous place?" He squinted his eyelids, searching his brain too for some sort of logical answer. His eyes widened in sudden alarm.

"Ralph? You didn't say you'd take her there, did you?"

"What? No! No, no. Of course not. I told her it was dangerous and that I wouldn't allow it" After hearing this, Felix let out a sigh of relief and Calhoun set down her mug of root beer.

"Way to stand your ground, Wreck-it. I'm proud of you," she chuckled to herself and took another sip.

"At least you two are happy with it," he said sadly. "Guys, you should have seen how angry she was at me. I mean, I've seen her throw a few tantrums here and there, but I think this one trumps them all." He rested his chin back on his hand.

"Ralph, I know it isn't easy, but no one ever said it would," Felix comforted. "You are doing the right thing, Ralph." Ralph looked down at his friend. "You really think so?" He nodded happily. "Absolutely. Tammy, don't you think?" The officer blew her bangs out of her eyes and looked over at Ralph. "You may not be the brightest candle on the birthday cake, but your heart is in the right place." Ralph smiled. "She's a kid, she'll come around eventually. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sooner or later, she'll realize that all you're doing is trying to do what's best for her."

Suddenly, the words of Sugar Rush's ex-ruler/dictator came flooding back to him.

"_Ralph, do you know what the hardest part about being a king is? Doing what's right. No matter what."_

While Ralph may not be a king, he was the most experienced between him and Vanellope. Since the day her game was restored and she returned to her rightful place as the games' head racer, he had made it his job to look over Vanellope like a little sister. He swore he would do whatever it takes to take care of her. And if that meant that he had to set a few ground rules, then so be it.

Vanellope might not like it now, but it's for her own good.

"Thanks, Sarge," he said with a shy smile. "That actually does make me feel a little better."

She raised her glass at him and smiled.

"Glad I could help. Now let's not dampen this evening with sour thoughts and regret." Felix and Ralph nodded in reply.

"Hey Tapper! Another drink on the double!"


	3. The Door

Vanellope sat impatiently in the five-car train that led from Game Central Station to her game.

She fidgeted and squirmed until she was in a comfortable position. She rested her elbows on her knees and stared straight up, looking at the tunnel that consisted of a system of wires and cables that connected her game to GCS. Spastic and random blue sparks flew by over her head as the _Chocomotive_ carried her to destination. She sighed and looked down at her feet which were dangling over the side of the seat.

Her mind raced a mile a minute as she thought about what had happened just a few moments ago.

_Stupid Ralph and his stupid rules. Why is he so overprotective? I can take care of myself just fine._

The _Chocomotive_ took a final turn and the scent of sugar and other tasty delicacies reached her nose. She looked straight ahead and saw the bright pink and teal sky of her game. The train came to a slow stop and she hopped off and walked slowly to the entrance of Sugar Rush with her hands in her sweater pockets and nose crinkled in anger toward her friend.

She stepped out of the tunnel and onto the rainbow bridge, unfazed by the vast, bright, sugar coated world before her with her head hung low and mumbling hurtful words to Ralph under her breath. She lifted her head and looked for any place that she could go to just be alone for a while.

Her eyes instantly drifted over to Diet Cola Mountain.

_No, too many memories of him. _

She looked over to the grandstands and the finish line where she saw Taffyta and the other racers standing in a circle and conversing. Albeit that they were just tiny colorful dots from where she was currently standing, she could still tell it was them.

_Definitely not. I'm not gonna put up with queen sour pop and her gang of rotten tootsie rolls right now._

After shaking her head, her eyes then landed on her castle which resided on the other side of the map. She sighed.

_Well, at least I'll be alone. _

Vanellope turned to her left and walked over to her kart, which she parked at the exit of the game whenever she left. She hopped in, started the engine, and in a puff of bright red, yellow and green sugar clouds, her car came to life.

She turned it around and sped off to her castle.

_At the same time,_

"Guys, I'm starting to feel bad." Taffyta turned to look at her cherry themed friend.

"What is it now, Juby?" Jubileena twisted her hands together and gulped nervously. "Well, I was just thinking about Vanellope and that big friend of hers." Taffyta rolled her eyes and took a lick of her strawberry flavored lollipop. "For the last time, Bing-Bing, there's nothing to feel bad about. Vanellope needs to learn to stop hanging around that big oaf sooner or later. I'm just trying to make it sooner."

"But, she was right about one thing," Taffyta's eyes narrowed and she glared at the racer standing to Jubileena's left. "And what would that be, Minty?"

Minty twiddled her fingers together nervously. "Well," she started, "he _did _kind of help save our game from those bugs . . ." she trailed off after being stared down at by Taffyta.

Nobody ever has really stood up to Taffyta before. Honestly, they were afraid to. Crossing paths with her on a bad day (which was almost every day with her) or getting on her bad side usually resulted in her grouping up with the other racers and convincing them to sabotage their kart or to flat out destroy it, forcing them to get a new one before the next day.

No one knows why Taffyta always has to act this way, so high and mighty, behaving as if she's better than everyone else. They just assumed that to act like this was in her code, simple as that. The programmers just thought that in a world of sweets and adorable children, there had to be that _one _stuck up little sour puss to ruin everyone's fun.

The other racers thought that after the game was reset and Vanellope was restored to her rightful place in Sugar Rush, Taffyta would change her ways and actually try being, well, sweet. You know, like her catchphrase? "Stay Sweet!"

But no.

If anything, it has gotten worse.

Because her usual target for emotional abuse has become the leader of their game, she felt she had no choice but to target the other racers instead.

When Vanellope is around, Taffyta can still cough up an attitude, but once she's gone, the pink racer thinks that she is the one in charge now and bosses the others around.

Come to think of it, that's the way it usually was, even before they figured out their leader, King Candy was a fraud. She would convince the racers to ruin Vanellope's newest project and have a good laugh about it later, but right after that, she was barking orders and bossing them around as if nothing had happened.

Sometimes, it was just hard to even be affiliated with the game that she was a part of.

Taffyta huffed and looked right to Minty. "Oh, and who was the one who let the said bugs into our game in the first place?" She asked, lifting both arms at her sides. Minty raised her pointer finger questioningly. "Um . . ." Before she could come up with an answer, Taffyta snorted and nodded. "Exactly."

"But, you know," Taffyta was practically steaming at this point, wondering what was causing the others to question her like this. She turned to Snowanna. "If he hadn't brought the bugs here, then we never would have found out about Vanellope being our real leader and still be treating her bad." The other racers nodded and agreed with the girl with the large shaved ice afro.

Taffyta darted her head from side to side, looking at her friends with the upmost surprised expression, mixed with just a touch of betrayal.

"You know, I'm starting to feel bad too," Gloyd spoke up. Taffyta whipped her head around and faced the candy corn themed boy who was scratching the back of his neck. "I mean, if Vanellope could become friends with him, then why can't we?" Taffyta started walking over to the black haired boy with the pumpkin hat with an accusing finger pointed to him.

"Because, Orangeboar, we are adorable, sweet little angels. And we are not meant to be hanging around with big, ugly wrecking machines that smell bad. That's why we can't." Gloyd took note that she didn't exactly sound adorable or angelic at all.

"Look, Taffyta," Taffyta turned around to face Swizzle, "I think you're overreacting. Why can't,"" I'm overreacting?! Well, what about all of you guys?" She asked, gesturing to each racer as she did. "I can't believe that you're actually defending them! Well, answer me this, if you feel the way you do, then why didn't you speak up when they were here earlier?"

None of them said anything, they just lowered their heads and looked ashamed of themselves.

"That's what I thought," Taffyta said with a nod and scrunched up nose.

"Look, the point is," Crumbelina started, "we've all done things that we're not proud of. And we can't really forgive ourselves for that. But Vanellope seemed to forgive us for bullying her for fifteen years straight. I think the least we could do for her is at least give that bug guy a chance. I mean, he seems nice enough."

Taffyta stared unbelievingly at the girl as the other racers nodded and agreed.

"Yeah, Crumbs is right."

"I second that."

"Hear hear!"

"How long have I had this candle?"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing right now!" Taffyta wailed. "Y-you're actually, but I, you can't just, Rancis!" The blond boy's eyes opened widely as he was startled back into reality. Taffyta came up right beside him, put her arm around his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "You're my right hand man, right?" Before he could get a single word out, he was interrupted by her. "Of course you are. Tell them that they're being unreasonable."

Rancis looked to each racer nervously then back to Taffyta, who was dreamily staring at him.

"Um, well, the thing is Taffyta," he muttered quietly, but loud enough for the others to hear, "I kind of agree with them. We never really did give Ralph a fair chance."

Taffyta's eyes were so wide with shock and anger that Rancis was afraid they were going to fly out and hit him in the face.

"No, no, no! Don't side with _them_!" She said the word 'them' as if they were a piece of rotten road kill. "You're supposed to agree with me! What kind of sidekick are you anyway?" She grumbled to herself and left the circle. "You know what? I don't need this from you guys right now. I'm leaving. I'll catch you all at the roster race."

She grumpily marched over to her kart, started it up and zipped off in the other direction, but not before doing a quick burnout and spraying mounds of dirt and dust in everyone's faces.

They all coughed and gagged until the dust cloud cleared up. "Man," Gloyd said, "looks like somebody's twizzler's are in a knot." "Yeah, you said it," Adorabeezle agreed.

After a few moments of silence, Minty spoke up once more. "Well, I'm up for some practice laps over on Sweet Ride. Anyone with me?" The others all shook their heads yes and ran to their karts . . . Except for Rancis.

Swizzle started his engine and was about to speed off over toward the next track with the others, but he saw Rancis standing in the same spot as he was before, not moving a muscle.

"You coming, Rancis?"

Rancis lifted his head up and looked at his friend. "Oh, um, I've got some stuff I need to take care of. You go on. I'll catch up with you later."

Swizzle shrugged. "Suit yourself. Later."

Swizzle brought his foot down onto the accelerator and drove off with the others, leaving Rancis alone with his thoughts.

He sighed and rested his hands in his pockets, kicking a chocolate rock over to the grandstands.

_The others are right, we need to give that Ralph guy a chance. Besides, if there's any chance that she'd feel differently around me, it starts by befriending Ralph._

_But what's the best way to apologize to her?_

_Flowers? No, too forward and weird. _

_How about I- _

His thoughts were cut off by the sound of a go kart engine approaching fast.

He turned and saw the familiar, sloppily made (yet surprisingly kind of cute) kart and its driver speeding over to him.

Rancis' eyes widened as he saw his chance to make it up to her.

"Vanellope! Hey Vanellope!" He ran a few paces forward and waved, trying to get her attention.

"I wanted to talk-"

_ZZZZOOOOOOOOOMMMM_

Vanellope rocketed past him, not even sparing him a backwards glance. The wind from her kart blew Rancis' hat right off of his head. He stood frozen in place for a few seconds with his finger helplessly raised. He dropped both hands to his sides and sighed disappointedly.

_I guess she's still miffed at us from earlier. Can't really blame her though, can I? It's not like I stood up for her when she needed it._

With one last breath of disappointment, Rancis walked back to his hat and dusted it off. He placed it back on his head and made his way to his kart. He started it up and went to join Swizzle and the others at Sweet Ride.

_Later_,

Vanellope stomped on the brakes as hard as she could and skidded to a violent stop just yards away from the castle's entrance. She cut the engine and hopped out, walked straight for the large doors and dodging the Oreo guards as they marched in formation, chanting as they did.

"Or-e-o, Oreeeee-o, Or-e-o, Oreeeeeo."

She had her eyes set on the door, not allowing anything else into her peripheral vision, which was a big mistake. She took another step forward and got bumped by one of the guards. She lost balance but quickly regained her footing and pressed onward. "Watch where you're going pal."

It wasn't long though before another cream filled chocolate cookie guard walked straight into her once again. She lost her footing and fell to her hands and knees, grumbling to herself and making a mental note to replace these guys.

Vanellope's eyes narrowed and she stared straight at her guards. "Can you guys give it a break for a while?! Sheesh." In an instant, the enlarged Oreos froze in place and quit their chanting. She waved them off and made her way inside the castle. Once the door was closed, the Oreos took that as their cue to continue.

"Or-e-o, Oreeeeeo."

After she had closed the door, Vanellope leaned her back against it and slid down to a sitting position, exhaling loudly and grumbling under her breath.

"Welcome back, Miss President."

"Eep!"

Vanellope started violently and looked to her right to find her tiny, sour, green assistant standing there, not showing the slightest hint of any emotion, as usual.

Vanellope took in a calming breath. "Sweet mother of monkey milk Bill, you scared the living _code_ out of me!" He blinked. "My apologies. Hard day today, Miss President?" She let out a hollow snort. "I guess you could say that." Sour Bill nodded his head slowly. "Mmm I see. Anything you need at the moment, Miss President?" She sighed and shook her head, lifting herself back up to her feet. "No, no, for right now I think I just want to be alone for a while."

He closed his eyes and nodded. "As you wish," he sighed. "Please call if you need anything else, Miss President." He added that last part as if he were forced to, like it was part of his job to be miserable. She nodded. "Thanks."

"Mhmm."

With one last nod, Vanellope watched her armless and legless sourball of an assistant turn his back to her and walk past the royal kart and to the other side of the curtains.

Vanellope took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, walking with her hands connected with each other behind her back and her head hanging low as if she were thinking of something.

She approached the steps that were right beside the throne and walked up, not before sneaking a quick glance at the kart that was meant for her though.

She looked at the sparkly white kart with a crown painted on the hood with disinterest.

She was the leader of the game, and therefore, she was supposed to be the owner of that kart. But she doesn't ever use it, it brings back too many painful memories of King Candy and his horrible methods of keeping 'glitches' in their place.

She kept the kart for two reasons:

She keeps it there to remind herself to never, ever stoop to his level and to be a nice, reasonable and fair ruler. Even if it can be challenging to stay that way around particular racers . . .

She also keeps it there so it makes the throne room look complete.

Besides, she already has a perfectly good kart now. A special one made by her and her best friend. Well, at the moment, he was anyway.

She reached the top level and was greeted with a long hallway that stretched down for at least fifty meters. Doors lined themselves up along the walls on both sides making a staggered pattern. Vanellope started walking down the hallway with her head still hanging low and her hands behind her back, looking at nothing but the salmon rug beneath her feet as she went.

She blinked and looked at the doors on her right hand side as she walked. Each room was numbered accordingly with odds on the left and evens on the right.

With nothing else to do as she continued down the hall and to her presidential headquarters, she counted the numbers in her head.

56 . . . 58 . . . 60 . . . DO NOT ENTER . . .

She stopped and looked at the door again. She rubbed her eyes and blinked them clear and read the sign on the door once again.

62.

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

_I could've sworn that just said,_

"Huh?" She spun around and looked at the door behind her and read what was displayed.

WI-FI ROOM.

She closed her eyes and shook her head violently. She opened them back up and read the door again.

61.

She took in a few deep, calming breaths.

_Calm down, Vanellope. Your head is just messing with you. Just keep calm, and,_

"What?"

She looked to the door next to it and read, "Very Dangerous. Do Not Enter."

She spun on her heel and took a look at all the other doors. Either someone was playing some cruel trick on her, or she was going insane.

DO NOT ENTER.

WI-FI ROOM.

KEEP OUT.

STAY CLEAR.

VERY DANGEROUS.

She closed her eyes tightly and thought silently to herself.

_Come on, girl. You're stronger than this. It's just a stupid door, I don't care what's inside anyway._

Suddenly, Ralph's voice came flooding into her head again.

"The internet is a big place . . . It's too dangerous . . . I'm not letting you put yourself in danger again . . ."

Vanellope grabbed hold of her head and dug her nails into her hair and pulled wildly. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Clamping her eyes shut, she ran forward in a straight line, careful as to not bump into the walls or doors. She opened them back up to find the door to her room quickly approaching on her left. She dug her feet into the ground and came to a quick halt. She turned to face her door and reached for the knob.

She closed her eyes again and could feel a trickle of sweat slide down her cheek, not wanting to look up to see what this door would say.

"Don't look up, don't look up, don't look up." But her curiosity overcame her will power, and her head slowly lifted up. Her eyes immediately darted to the sign above her head.

And what this single sign said was the most convincing and frightening of them all.

GO.

Vanellope stood frozen in place, staring with wide eyes at the word in front of her, analyzing and thinking at a mile a minute as to what the meaning was behind it.

But she already knew.

Without another moment's hesitation, she let go of the knob and bolted in the direction she came from, rocketing and glitching herself forward faster than she knew she could.

_Stupid Ralph . . . Thinks I can't handle myself. I'll show him. _

She bolted down to the exit of the hallway, raced down the stairs, exploded into the gigantic throne room and quickly made her way over to the large double doors.

She didn't even bother opening the door. She glitched herself through and reappeared on the other side, startling the Oreo guards. She barreled past them and hopped into her kart. She immediately pushed the starter button and the kart came to life. She turned around and the kart rocketed down the path it came from, leaving the Oreo guards in a trance of confusion.

She squinted her eyelids as the wind blew by her, flipping her ponytail in the air as she went. In what seemed like seconds, she reached the base of the rainbow bridge and began ascending up to the exit of her game. The _Chocomotive_ station came into view, but rather than slow down to a stop, she sped up.

She reached the platform and then drove into the tunnel. Blue sparks flying and bursting under her tires as she went sailing by with determination clearly visible in her eyes. She pressed her foot down on to the gas pedal all the way to the floor. Her head jerked back slightly and she proceeded down the dark tunnel. She took a left turn and the kart was driving along the curve of the wall of wires.

A light appeared at the end of the tunnel and she squinted her eyelids.

In an instant, she burst through the entrance platform and flew straight into Game Central Station. It wasn't as crowded as Vanellope thought it would be, considering that it is after arcade hours. But at least it gave her more room to drive.

She drove to the entrance of Tapper's and her target finally came into view.

_Meanwhile,_

"No way," Ralph said disbelievingly.

"It's true. Every word," the Sergeant confirmed, taking another drink of root beer.

"Jaminy. Somebody actually found a short cut in your game?" Calhoun set down her mug and nodded to her husband. "I'm just as shocked as you are, sweetie. Nobody's ever found that secret entrance before. I was starting to believe no one would ever find it."

Ralph pursed his lips and squinted his eyes, clearly trying to piece something together. "Where was it?"" I'm glad you asked, Wreck-it. You know that elevator shaft that is on the other side of the building?" Ralph raised his finger, ready to answer the question, but he quickly dropped it, realizing he had no idea what she was talking about.

"No."

"Well, the secret room that leads directly to the lab at the top of the tower is about five clicks due east from there." Felix looked astonished. "Wow. That sure must be handy. I bet that that's a heck of a lot easier than fighting off all those bugs." His wife nodded and took another sip while Ralph still looked befuddled.

"But I still don't know anything about that elevator."

_SSSSSCCCCCCRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_

_KKKKKSSSSSSRRRRRRAAAAAASSSSHHHHH_

Ralph raised his head and fists in alarm while Felix raised his hands over his head defensively and Calhoun spat out her root beer. Everyone else in the bar froze in place and looked around frantically for the source of that noise. Calhoun wiped her chin with her fist and unstrapped her pistol from its holster. She turned on her heel and faced the entrance of the tavern.

Ralph stood up from his seat and looked over to the exit as well, raising his fists in a fighting stance. Felix jumped off of his stool and hid behind his wife's legs, peaking over the side at the exit cautiously. "What in the name of Leroy Jenkins was that?" Calhoun asked, her pistol never looking anywhere else but the exit.

"I have no idea," Ralph breathed. "Should we go check it out?" Felix shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe we should let the surge protector take care of it. Whatever, or whoever it was sounded like they had some sort of vehicle with them. Did you hear how loudly those tires squealed?"

Ralph looked down at his friend then back to the entrance.

_That did sound awfully like . . ._

His eyes widened in realization.

"Oh no."

The Fix-it's looked at Ralph questioningly as he slowly let his fists fall to his side and a spooked expression on his face. "Ralph, you alright there, brother?"

He didn't answer. Rather, he just took off in a sprint and ran straight through the entrance, not waiting for Felix or Calhoun. "Ralph! Wait!" Calhoun called, but he was already gone. She looked down to her husband. "Let's go, hun."

_At the same time,_

Vanellope successfully broke down the door with her kart. She didn't even bother trying the door knob, it was probably locked anyway.

She inched her kart forward and ran over the door which was now lying on the floor with its hinges bent and destroyed. Vanellope gaped in wonderment as she entered a bright white hallway that lasted about fifteen feet and led to a room which she couldn't see from back at the entrance. All she could make out was a strange, blue flickering light.

With an eyebrow raised, she lightly tapped gas pedal and slowly made her way to the other end of the hall. The blue light becoming brighter and brighter as she went.

A brown, wooden sign hung from the ceiling close to the opening of a larger room. Vanellope read it out loud. "Litwakrouter950501?" She waved off the mild curiosity she had toward it and went on her way.

A slight humming sound was emanating from the room up ahead, the only other sound in this hallway besides Vanellope's kart engine rumbling and echoing off the sides of the walls. The entrance was a mere few feet away. The blue light was now flickering brighter than before as she finally drove through the entryway and in the open room.

Vanellope's eyes nearly bugged right out of her head at the sheer size of the place. The room must have been twenty feet long and wide with a seemingly never ending ceiling. At the other end of the room were five circular steps, each one slightly smaller than the other as they rose up. At the top of the last step is what caught her attention, however. On the top step, a blue, circular, pillar type object that rose higher than she thought possible. She heard the sound of something humming and vibrating and noticed it was coming from the blue pillar. That's when she noticed it wasn't just an object.

This blue, thing, seemed to be a beam of pure energy with a hint of white around the edges and at its core. The beam went up and up, higher and higher until it disappeared into the blackness high above her.

She quickly realized that this must be the thing that allows people to go to the internet.

She stared in awe and amazement at the never ending blue beam.

"Wow," she whispered.

She stood up from her seat and leaned forward on the dashboard to get a better look.

"Vanellope!"

Her heart skipped a beat and she jumped nearly out of the kart. She turned around and saw three familiar figures making their way down the hall and coming straight for her. Ralph, Calhoun and Felix stopped breathlessly a few yards behind her with mixed expressions of anger, surprise, and shock plastered on their faces.

"What are you doing?!" She looked over to Ralph who looked just about ready to blow a gasket. "Well, I, um," she stuttered helplessly. "No, stop. I'll tell you what you're doing. You are coming back with us right now, young lady!" Vanellope stuck out her bottom lip. "You can't just," she was cut off by Calhoun.

"No back sass, Private! You're coming with us right now! That's an order!" The little girl glared at the Sergeant. "I'm not back sassing! I was just," this time she was cut off by Felix. "I'm afraid theirs no flex on this one, Miss Vanellope. You are coming with us right,"

"NO!"

The trio blinked in shock and backed up a pace. "I'm sick of you three always treating me like a defenseless kid who can't take care of herself, but you know what?" The three of them continued to stare at the little girl in her kart.

"I can take care of myself! I've lived alone in Diet Cola Mountain for fifteen years looking out for myself only and I did just fine! I went through physical and emotional pain for fifteen years and I'm fine! I can take care of myself without you guys' help! I'm tired of you always saying 'we can't do that, it's too dangerous! Let's go over to the safer game and just . . . Just,' No! Not anymore!"

The adults just stood rooted in their spots, not moving a single inch as they waited for Vanellope's tantrum to fade away. Which didn't seem to be any time soon.

"I'm going to show you I can watch out for myself." Ralph finally stepped up. "Vanellope, no one is saying you can't look after yourself. We're just trying to," Vanellope clenched her hands into fists and stared up at the large wrecker.

"Nothing you can do is going to change my mind! You are going to start treating me fairly and,"" Vanellope, you're acting like a brat! I can't believe you'd disobey me like this! You don't think going in there is a big deal. But guess what, it is! You're going to hurt yourself!"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" She shrieked, pointing at him furiously. "Trying to do 'what's best for me' when you know I am totally fine on my own! Well you know what? That's going to change right now!" She pounded her fists on the rear end of her kart, causing it to jerk slightly and hiss.

Ralph noticed the compartment over the hood opening up and the familiar grappling gun rose from below, whirring and twisting as it did. Vanellope stared at it in confusion as she heard it click and grind, like it was working on its own. The three fingered claw burst out of the barrel and flew straight into the beam, disappearing instantly, the licorice rope going taut as it did.

Vanellope's and Ralph's went wide as they heard her tires starting to squeal. They looked down and noticed her kart was beginning to inch forward. Ralph's heart plummeted once he realized what was happening. Vanellope and her kart were being pulled into that thing.

The kart suddenly rose from the ground and took off like a bullet towards the blue beam. Vanellope let out a shriek of fear as she was pushed back into her seat and saw it coming closer and faster. "No!" Ralph jumped forward just in time to grab her two back tires. He dug his feet into the white linoleum floor, trying with all his might to pull her away from that thing. Vanellope turned her head around and looked Ralph right in the eyes, her fearful expression matching his, only his facial expressions were mixed between fear and physical exhaustion.

Ralph tried to step backwards but the force opposing him was too strong. He lost his footing and fell straight on his face, releasing the wheels. He looked back up quickly to see Vanellope leaning out of her kart with her hand outstretched towards him, as if trying to pull herself back with some invisible force. Ralph watched helplessly as his best friend in the whole world disappeared in the beam.

"No! Vanellope!" Without thinking, he shot up to his feet and raced over to the circular steps at the end of the room.

"Ralph! Wait!" He heard Felix's panicked voice behind him, but chose to ignore him.

Ralph reached the base of the steps, climbed up each one and leapt into the beam.

"Ralph!" Felix cried before his wife lifted him up and tucked him under her arm. "Hold on honey!" She shouted.

With her husband securely under her arm, she started sprinting over to the beam as well, letting out a war cry as Felix let out a cry of fear.

They reached the steps, leapt up and allowed the beam to consume them.


	4. Where Are We?

The first thing Ralph felt when he charged through the blue energy beam was . . . Nothing. He hurled himself into it like a mouse to cheese and felt himself being suspended in the open air. Almost as if he were floating in a never-ending expanse of pure blue.

He was not standing on any solid surfaces, but nothing was holding him up either. He stared at his hand and wiggled his fingers, as if trying to see if he still had control over himself. He patted himself over and over again on his body, trying to make sure that he was still in one piece. He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding once he saw that every part of him was accounted for.

His eyes immediately went wide once he remembered the reason why he was in this weird, blue thing in the first place.

He twisted his body around in multiple directions, trying to see if he could spot his tiny friend. "Vanellope?" Despite being in what seemed like a very vast, open area, his voice did not echo. "Vanellope? Where are you?!"

"Raaaaalph!"

His heart stopped as he heard the tiny voice call out to him.

He twisted his head left and right, trying to find her. But he was only met with more blue.

"Kid! Vanellope! Where are you?!"

"Raaaaalph!"

He blinked multiple times and looked up (at least he thought it was up. He couldn't tell in a place like this). His heart stopped once again, then it plummeted down to his stomach.

High above him, he spotted a large, brightly colored rectangular figure swirling and spiraling aimlessly. He also made out a small dot that was sitting inside said rectangular figure, grasping onto the sides of it with her eyes clamped shut so tightly that even _he_ probably wouldn't be able to pry them open on his own.

"Vanellope!"

Ralph waved his arms frantically in spiraling motions, attempting to position himself so he could somehow make his way up to her. His large, bulky frame tilted slowly to a vertical position as he continued to thrash his arms around like a baby bird that just learned to fly. He set his sights dead on Vanellope's position and began trying to float his way over to her.

But he wasn't getting any luck.

He spun his arms wildly in swimming-like motions and kicking his feet in desperate attempts to gain momentum, but he felt like he was getting nowhere. He didn't care though. He was going to get to Vanellope one way or another, and nothing was going to stop him.

As he continued trying to make his way up the blue void and to his best friend in the world, he heard multiple murmuring and screaming sounds coming from not far below him.

He scrunched up his eyebrows confusedly and looked downward. His eyes went wide with surprise as he saw two more figures, one in all black that was holding onto another smaller figure that was dressed in mostly blue clothing. Ralph felt his insides run cold as he saw Felix and his wife spiraling and spinning, grasping onto each other tightly as they did.

He took in a shaky breath then gasped as he felt himself tilting downwards, facing Calhoun and Felix now rather than Vanellope. His hands went flailing out to the sides, frantically searching for something to grab onto to steady himself, but was unable to find one. His arms continued to thrash wildly as his body did multiple somersaults and flips, causing his stomach to turn and his vision to blur.

Once he was able to steady himself, he placed his hand over his mouth to keep the contents of his belly down where they belonged. He opened his eyes back up slowly and found that he was now positioned so he could see Vanellope still in her kart and sailing high above him.

However, something else above her caught his attention.

He squinted his eyelids so he could make out exactly what it was.

The only problem was, he has no idea what that is. It appeared to be a tiny white dot. While it was a ways away from Vanellope, and even farther away from him, it was a very bright looking object.

He felt as though that his mind was playing a trick on him, because it seemed that the longer he looked at it, the wider and brighter it grew. At first, it started out barely the size of his fingernail. But then it grew to at least the size of his open palm, then grew even wider to the full length of his belly.

His eyes widened as he came to a sudden realization.

He wasn't just floating, and he wasn't just staying in one spot. He, Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun were, in fact, _moving_.

They were moving upwards, at a speed so fast that he didn't even realize he was moving at all, towards that white thing and he quickly put together that it must be some sort of entrance to a place that he hadn't originally planned on going to anytime in the near future.

_I've got to get to Vanellope! Now!_

He resumed his arm swinging and leg kicking, trying to reach Vanellope before she reached the white light, which was growing larger and larger by the second. He could see her tiny head swing back and forth, looking frantically between the light and at her enormous wrecking friend. She leaned out of her kart and reached her hand out towards him, just like she had back in Game Central Station just moments ago.

His arms growing tired and his lungs running out of air, he gave up his hopeless arm swinging and just stared into her large, hazel eyes. He returned the gesture, extending his hand out towards her too.

And faster than he had time to blink, her kart disappeared into the light.

"No!"

The white light grew larger and wider and brighter by the second. He held his hand over his eyes to shield them from the blindingly bright white.

He found it hopeless to struggle against the pull of the light and let his body go slack, accepting this unknown fate and anticipating what was on the other side.

"Hold on kid," he whispered. "I'm coming."

He closed his eyes as the whiteness consumed him.

_Later_,

"People! People!" The surge protector waved his arms in front of him, trying to keep the many worried characters at bay. "I'm going to have to ask you all to please be patient as we sort this situation out," he said in a slightly calmer voice.

The surge protector was standing in front of the busted door that lead to the Wi-Fi room trying to calm down the many video game characters that were surrounding the area and bombarding him with questions that he didn't know the answer to just yet.

"Who all went in there?"

"Are they insane?"

"What if they don't come back out again?"

"Listen," the surge protector said trying to raise his voice at a level that was higher than the amount of chatter that was right before him. But he was not even able to hear himself think over these people. "I don't have any information on the matter at the moment. I must advise you that all questions should be taken to our office where we will," He stopped mid-sentence when he heard someone clearing their throat behind him.

The blue, balding man turned around and faced another surge protector that was on the other side of the door which was X'd off with bright yellow tape. He signaled with a nod that he needed him to follow him back into the room. Surge pushed up his glasses and nodded in return. He turned back to face the mob and raise both his hands and his voice.

"Excuse me," he said, gaining more of their attention. "As of now, this area is under a criminal investigation." The crowd let out a collective gasp.

"But, how do you know if a crime even took place here?" Asked a worried character which he recognized as one of the main characters in Street Fighter. "We don't," the surge protector admitted, "that's the point of setting up a _criminal investigation." _He rolled his eyes."Now this area is under strict lockdown until further notice. I suggest that all of you go about your day until we have the situation sorted out. Please be safe and have a nice day," he pleaded.

To his surprise, the questions died down and the crowd dispersed.

He let out a long, exhausted breath and dropped his arms to his sides. He turned and ducked under the yellow caution tape and entered the room where the other surge protectors were gathered in a circle and chatting amongst themselves about the events that have taken place. He entered the large white room with his clipboard tucked under his arm and marched toward the group of exact lookalikes.

One of them noticed his presence and cut off the conversation. "There you are!" The others stopped talking and turned to him as well. He held up his hand. "Yes, yes, I'm here. Listen, Game Central is in a state of panic. We need to,"" Why?"

He stared questioningly at one of the protectors. "Why what?" The surge protector in question shrugged. "Why are they panicking? It just seems odd that they're the ones that are scared rather than who just went in there. What is there to be afraid of?"

The head surge protector glared at him. "There is a system that helps protect the arcade from the dangers of the internet. We have firewalls and virus protection software that prevents anything harmful from being released into our world."

The other protector looked like he was trying to piece all of this together. "Well, that doesn't really answer my question. What does that have to do with,"" Someone from this arcade has just entered the internet. They may inadvertently tamper with safety protocol and shut down all security codes." The other surge protector's eyes went wide in realization. "Unleashing a foreign entity into the arcade."

The other protectors gasped.

"Like binary infections!"

"Or code disrupting bugs."

"Or a _virus_."

The others gasped once more, placing hands over their agape mouths and mumbling worriedly to one another.

"Exactly," said the head protector, aiming his ballpoint pen at the protector who brought said virus up.

"Now, as surge protectors, it is our duty to not let that happen and to keep Game Central Station under control. You, you and you are on patrol duty. Report back to me if you find anything out of the ordinary," he ordered, pointing to three different protectors.

They stood at attention with feet together and hands at their sides. "Yes sir," they said in unison before zipping into the floor below them in a white flurry and zooming out the door in three separate directions. "You three are on guard duty. Stand by that door at all times and don't let anyone come so much as an inch to the entrance." Without another word, the three surge protectors did as they were told and zipped to the entrance standing in a triangle formation outside the door standing at the ready.

"The rest of you are with me. We're staying here until we find out what in the name of Stan Litwak happened in this room. They nodded. The head protector placed his hands behind his back and paced in front of them, heading toward the blue beam. "Now, do we have any leads as to who it was exactly that went in there?" One protector cleared his throat.

"Yes sir. Three eye witness reports say that they saw four characters running into the room. Two male and two female," he said as he read off of his clipboard. The head SP nodded. "Does anyone know when this all took place?"

"No more than forty-five minutes ago, sir."

"And no confirmation on the names of who broke in?"

"None so far, sir."

The head SP sighed and rubbed his sinuses soothingly. "What exactly can we do to help them in there?"

He turned and faced the others. He remained silent for a few moments before finally giving an answer.

"There's nothing we can do now but wait and hope for the best."

_Later_,

"Van . . . Vanellope . . . Don, don't go in there," Ralph muttered with eyelids fluttering softly.

"D, don't go in the . . . the light. Kid, you'll . . . never, come. . ."

His eyes allowed light to pour in through his protective lids, causing him to squint and raise his hands over his face.

"Van . . . Vanellope. Vanellope?" He slowly lifted his body off the soft ground he felt beneath him.

"Vanellope!"

His eyes burst open and he launched his body upward, rising to a full sitting position. As soon as he did, he was rewarded with a blinding light that threatened to turn his eyeballs into withered up pieces of bacon. He quickly slammed them shut and held his forearm over his face and backed up. The light disappeared and he felt his back run into something.

He stopped and slowly opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light.

Once his vision was fully restored, he blinked multiple times and realized that the light went away because he had stepped into a shaded area. "What the?" he turned around and faced the object which he ran into.

It was a tree.

It resembled a tree that he would normally see back in his own game. Rather than the trunk being round, it had four distinct sides to it, revealing it to be in the shape of a square. The square trunk rose slightly above his head and a large cluster of leaves met his gaze.

Well, they weren't 'leaves' per se. Rather they were multiple blocks of cubes that were all the same length and width apart with the same pattern of leaves decorating all of them.

He lifted one eyebrow questioningly and turned around and was faced with a similar tree a few feet in front of him, complete with its square trunk and cubed leaves.

Her turned his head to the left and found more trees. He looked down to the ground and found that he wasn't exactly standing on grass like he'd expected. He was standing on a flat, green plain that merely resembled grass.

He did a full three-sixty before he came to the conclusion that he was in a strange, cube forest.

"What? Where am I?"

He walked forward a few paces, looking from tree to tree confusedly.

He stopped once a certain thought popped itself into his head

_Vanellope! Felix! Sergeant Crazy!_

His eyes went wide with fear and worry and waved his hands frantically at his sides. "No! No, no, no, no, no. Oh gosh, no. Where, where are they? I just saw her and she was, she was up there and I, I, where are they?" He gasped for air and dug his fingers into his hair. He kept them there for a few moments before lowering them to the sides of his mouth and prepared to shout their names, hoping at least one of them could hear him.

But before he could, a soft rustling noise caught his attention.

He peered over his shoulder over in the direction where it came from. A combination of fear, hope and curiosity washing over him.

"Uh, he, hello?" He was met with the same rustling noise as before.

"Is someone there?"

From behind one of the trees, a black figure rolled in front of him and disappeared behind another tree, moving too quickly for him to be able to identify what it was.

"Hello?" He repeated.

He took two cautious steps forward before the black figure popped out from behind the tree and standing right before him, and she was armed to the bone.

"Taste it!"

Calhoun snatched out her repeater rifle and aimed it at Ralph. He yelped in alarm and dashed to the side, avoiding a hail of gunfire that destroyed the terrain behind him, cutting through the trees like they were made of nothing at all, causing a portion of the trunk to disappear instantly and the tree toppled over, crushing the leaves resting on top of it in the process.

Calhoun continued firing and watched as her gun mercilessly tore through the foliage. Ralph jumped and rolled behind another tree. While it wasn't nearly wide enough to fully cover him, it was a better hiding spot than nothing. As soon as he heard the shots stop, he raised both hands on either side of the tree and spoke up.

"Calhoun! It's me! Ralph! Stop shooting at me you crazy lady!"

There was a pause.

"Wreck-it?"

He only realized he was closing his eyes when he finally snapped them back open. He slowly stepped out from behind the tree and saw the Sergeant with her rifle lowered. Her eyes widened. "Oh, there you are. Sorry about that, Pal."

He lightly coughed under his breath. "'Sorry?!' That's what you have to say for yourself?! You could have killed me! What's wrong with you?" She lowered her eyebrows and crinkled her nose distastefully.

"Well excuse me! Here I am in the middle of some forest and I find a big, bear-like creature. So sorry if I felt the need to defend myself!" She barked. Ralph's eyes went wide in disbelief. "But you, I just, how could you just, GAHH! You nearly killed me!"

She held up her pointer finger. "But I didn't." Ralph snorted and threw his hands at his sides, rolling his eyes as he did. "Fine, whatever," he dismissed. "What we need to do now is,"

"Whoa!"

Both of their faces twisted into confused and shocked expressions as they heard a sudden, familiar cry.

They turned their heads to where the noise came from and heard the sound of a go kart rumbling and echoing from the forest. "Vanellope?"

On cue, a bright pink and green frosting smothered go kart with a tiny driver in the seat came from around a corner and was heading straight for them. What else caught their attention was a smaller man in a blue uniform sitting on the rear fender where Ralph always sits, clinging to it desperately and hanging on for dear life.

"Vanellope!"

"Felix!"

Once Ralph saw her, his face immediately lit up with relief and joy.

_Oh thank goodness she's ok! _

He could hear her yell over the roar of the engine, but was unable to understand what it was. He squinted his eyebrows and raised his hand to his mouth.

"What?" He yelled.

They were getting closer. She shouted at him again.

"WHAT?!"

The kart sped closer to him. He shifted on his feet uncomfortably.

"I said GET ON!"

Vanellope didn't even jerk the wheel in a different direction. She rammed her kart right into his knees and knocked him to the hood of her kart. He landed and instinctively gripped both sides of the kart trying to steady himself.

He darted his head from side to side, trying to make sense of what was going on.

His mind reeled back to the moment when he was falling into the base of Diet Cola Mountain and expecting his demise until Vanellope glitched her way to the unfinished bonus level and saved him by ramming her borrowed kart into his ribs and teleporting back outside.

He looked at windshield of her kart, expecting to see her with a smirk on her face and give him a salute like last time. But she didn't. Instead, the look on her face was what could not be mistaken for anything else other than fear. He looked back up and could see Felix, who was holding onto his hat with one hand and onto the kart with the other. He stared at his wrecking friend and attempted to give him a kind smile and wave.

His eyes darted back to Vanellope. "Kid! You're alright! What's going on?" He shouted over the sound of her engine. She eyed him nervously. "No time to explain, Ralphie! Now shut up and hold on!" She shifted her kart into another gear. He tightened his grip so much that he think he felt the frame of her kart began to crumble beneath his hands.

She swerved her steering wheel left and right, avoiding the square trees while sending his lower body swerving and swinging precariously side to side over the hood of the kart. He squinted his eyelids and peered over behind the kart to see Calhoun keeping up with them by riding on her cruiser (which she must have had the whole time yet Ralph didn't even notice), swerving between the trees as she went.

He looked back down at his friend. "Um, Vanellope?" He shouted. "What exactly are we running from?" She looked him in the eyes and replied "I'll explain later! We're almost out!"

Ralph looked behind his shoulder to see a final line of trees that he assumed lead to the exit of this forest.

With one last turn of the wheel, they burst through and were met with bright sunshine and more green grass. She stomped on her brakes and brought the kart to a sudden halt. Felix let out a startled yelp but was able to successfully stay on the back of the kart.

The same could not be said for Ralph, however.

The moment she even applied pressure to the brakes, he was sent flying backward and rolled several feet on the fake grass before coming to a slow stop. He groaned and sorely heaved himself to his wobbly feet, just in time to see Vanellope zip out of her kart and made a beeline for Ralph before throwing herself at him with such force she knocked him back onto his rear.

He let out a sharp cry of pain and looked down to his friend who latched herself onto his chest, burying her face into his shirt while muttering "You're ok! Sweet mother of monkey milk you're ok!" Not knowing what else to do, Ralph enclosed her lightly in his arms.

In an instant, all negative feelings he had towards her dissolved into a warm, fluffy sensation as he held his friend safely in his arms.

Felix hopped off of the kart and approached his wife as she landed a few yards away from him. He ran and jumped into her arms. She caught her husband and they embraced warmly, both ecstatic that the other was unharmed.

Ralph grabbed Vanellope and held her in the palm of his hand. They both smiled warmly at each other for a while before Ralph remembered that he needed to be upset with her at the moment. He shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows at her.

"Vanellope, what were you thinking?" Her bright smile melted away as her eyes went wide and her mouth was agape. He continued anyway. "You deliberately disobeyed me and went into that room! What could you possibly be thinking?" He was met with more silence as she stared up at the sky in wonder. He stopped his angry rambling and looked over to Calhoun and Felix, who were looking up at the sky as well.

"What're you guys all looking at?" Vanellope slowly raised her finger at the sky. He set her down and turned around to see what it was her pudgy finger was pointed.

The first thing he noticed was the view.

What was lying right before him was the most incredible view he has ever seen. A large, wide, vast expanse of land and water resting inside a canyon which he was standing on the edge on. What caught his attention most however was the fact that everything appeared to be made of cubes. The hills and trenches and crevices which composed most of the world was made up of sharp corners and four sides that were clearly cubes, much like the cubed trees in the forest.

It didn't take the four of them long to piece together that this entire area, if not this entire world was made up of only cubes.

Ralph gulped and found himself slowly looking up to the sky to see a square sun. Right under the sun though was an object that nearly made him double over.

Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun slowly walked up to his side and stared at the same object.

Hanging weightlessly in the air was a word.

But this word was composed of the same cubes that this world was made of, but decorated and textured to look like gray rock and tough soil. The cubes were pieced together so precisely to spell out a single pixelated word.

MINECRAFT

"Uh, guys," Vanellope spoke up.

"I don't think we're in the arcade anymore."


	5. Lots of Problems, but No Solutions

"Oh my land," Felix breathed with his hand hovering over his mouth, staring mindlessly at the vast expanse of the cubed world that lies ahead of them. Calhoun stood to his right with her eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

Truly, this has to be the most beautiful place they have ever seen.

The ground stretched so far into the horizon that it probably could still continue for miles on end before the clear, blue sky met the earth below it. Ralph looked up and came to the conclusion that this world must be under what's called 'real time' because the clouds above them (which too appeared to be made from some blocky material) were moving slowly, ever so slowly across the sky. While squinting, he could also see the square sun rising gracefully into the air. He looked back down and his eyes came across a mountain range that revealed itself through a thin layer of fog on the other side of the canyon they stood before.

A full copy, no, multiple copies of the Fix-It Felix Jr., Sugar Rush and Heroes Duty map more than half a dozen times over.

"Wow," Vanellope whispered, her hands cupped over her mouth with eyes full of curiosity and wonder. "It's . . . It's . . . Beautiful."

Ralph was then shaken out of his trance and looked down to her. "Beautiful?" She too shook herself out of her daze and looked up quizzically at Ralph. "What do you mean 'beautiful'? I mean, sure it looks nice up here, but there's just one tiny problem." He rubbed his chin and had an expression on his face that mimicked deep thought. "Let's see, what was it? Hmm. Oh yeah, that's right," he snapped his fingers. "We have no way back!" She shrunk down and slightly cringed at her friends' outburst. Felix and Calhoun were now looking at him confusedly.

"Look around, kid!" He raised his hands and gestured around him. "Do you see that blue, beam, thing anywhere?" She turned her head side to side. "No! You don't! And now, we can't get back home! And it's all your fault!" He pointed his finger accusingly at her.

She held her hands against her chest. "Me? Well, you're the butthead who decided to come barging into that room. No one told you to come with me! If you hadn't followed me, I could have made it out just fine."

"Fine? FINE?"

"Yes 'fine'! I would have visited one room in the in the internet and come back out just like that! But _you_ screwed me up. And now look where we are!"

Ralph curled his fingers tightly and grumbled incomprehensibly to himself, face glowing red as he did. "Look sister, the point is I told you to stay away from that door, but you didn't listen! And now you,"

"Cram it! The both of you!"

Ralph and Vanellope silenced themselves and turned to face the Sergeant who was breathing heavily through her nostrils and narrowing her eyes at the two of them. She marched by her husband and came between the two.

"Now let me get one thing perfectly clear: as of right now, I'm not going to put up with your petty squabbles today or any time during the remainder of our 'visit' here! And if I hear so much as a peep out of either of you I will shove you in my rifle and blast you all the way back to Litwak's from here! Understand!?" They nodded furiously.

She turned to face Ralph, gripped his shirt and pulled him down to her eyelevel. "Listen here, Junk Pile, that is no way to talk to a little girl! You are her mentor, her big brother, her guardian, and I respect that about you. But if you think that I'm going to stand here for a single minute and listen to you argue with a nine-year-old, then your head must not be screwed on right. And the moment I'm done with you two, you are going to apologize to her, understood?" He stared blankly at her. "Understood!?" His eyes widened. "Uh, yeah. Ri, right. Understood!" She let him go and gave him a firm nod before turning and kneeling down to Vanellope's height.

"And as for you, Pipsqueak," she pointed down to the girl, resting her forearm on her knee. "Uh, Sugar Buns, I'm not sure that," she held up her hand to silence her husband.

"I understand that you were given _explicit_ instructions to not go near that door, and you broke that rule." Vanellope lowered her head and rubbed her arm shamefully. "Look at me," Calhoun ordered firmly yet controlled. Slowly, Vanellope shifted her sad gaze upwards. "You and Ralph have got a good thing goin' here. I'd hate to see that relationship go down the toilet over something like this. And while I don't agree with his methods of teaching you a lesson, nor do I approve of your insubordinate behavior, we need to keep our heads if we want any hope of ever returning." Her voice was lowering and she took a calming breath. "Is that understood, soldier?" She sadly nodded. Calhoun reached under her chin and lifted her head to meet her gaze.

She gave her a small, hooked smile. "Good. Now, I want you two to shake hands and apologize." She walked over back to her husband while Ralph and Vanellope awkwardly scratched the back of their necks.

"Now!"

They jumped and Ralph reached his hand down and gently took Vanellope's tiny fingers between his thumb and forefinger. After a few seconds of nervous shaking, they slowed down and looked into each other's eyes. They let go and Ralph knelt down to her level. "Listen, kid, I'm," he was cut off by her jumping on his chest and hugging tightly. He bent back in surprise before wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Ralph." He sighed. "I'm sorry too kid. I shouldn't have snapped at you." He cupped her in his massive palms and held her out in front of him. "And I shouldn't have went into that room in the first place. It really is my fault we're stuck here." He gave her a sad smile. "It's gonna be ok, kid. I promised that I would never let anything happen to you, and I meant it. We'll get out of here eventually." She smiled happily at him as he set her down.

"But, we are going to have a _looong_ talk when we get back." She giggled. "Deal." Ralph raised his fist. "Top shelf?" Her face lit up and she propelled her tiny body upwards, tapping her fist against Ralph's. "Top shelf!"

Felix clasped both of his hands together. "Well now, that's much better, isn't it?" The two of them nodded. "And while I believe that Tammy could have put her little speech into, uh, nicer words, she is right. We aren't going to get anywhere pointing fingers and playing the name game. We've got to keep together, stay strong, and we'll get out of here in no time!" He swung his arm for emphasis.

His face then grew darker.

"But, it's only a matter of time before the players realize that we're gone."

Everyone's faces fell dramatically.

"Well," Calhoun spoke up, "Heroes Duty should hold up for a little while. My men know exactly what to do if any of our regular characters were to go AWOL. I can't say the same for your game though," she said sadly, gesturing to Felix.

"And it won't take long before the players realize I'm not on the roster," Vanellope noted.

"Oh, Ralph," Felix breathed. "This is horrible! Our game could be unplugged because of this!"

"That's not going to happen," Ralph said confidently. "Like I said, we'll get out of here eventually. We've just gotta, you know, find the exit." Calhoun put her hands on her hips. "Wreck-it's right. If we got in here, then that means that there has to be a way out as well. We just have to start looking."

Ralph, Vanellope and Felix turned their heads side to side.

"And where do you suggest we start looking, Captain Sweetness?" Vanellope asked. "This place is humungous!"

The Sergeant shrugged. "I don't know kid. But you know what they say."

They each raised their eyebrow at her.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

Vanellope's face lifted into a silly grin.

"Or with a push of a button."

Her head turned to her kart which was still parked over by the trees. Calhoun, in return, unstrapped her cruiser and dropped it to the ground as it unfurled and levitated off the ground.

"Alright, kiddies," Calhoun said in her usual commando voice. "Let's get this train a-movin'."

_Meanwhile_,

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

"President Vanellope. It's time for the Roster Race."

Sour Bill stood in front of the President's quarters (which was really her bedroom. She preferred to have people call it that because it sounded authoritative), tapping his tiny foot as he waited for her to open up.

He tried again.

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

Nothing.

"Miss President? Are you in there?" He reached up and opened her door. He cracked it open and peeped inside cautiously. She always hated it when someone would come barging in her room, er, Presidential Quarters, unannounced.

He did a quick scan of the room and could not find her anywhere. "Hmm?" He fully entered the room and walked over to her bed. He walked under it and came out the other side, not finding her under there. His brow furrowed and he walked over to her wardrobe. He opened it and saw nothing but extra copies of her usual mint green hoodie with green, swirly leggings. He closed the doors and made his way to the double doors on the other side of the room.

He swung them open and stepped out onto the balcony which gave him the perfect vantage point of Sugar Rush, yet she wasn't outside either.

Sour Bill widened his eyes. "Uh oh."

At the racetrack, the candy citizens were sitting in their respective seats as the colorful racers pulled their karts to the starting line, hopped out and made their way to the winner's circle which was just at the base of the massive popcorn stand where Vanellope would stand and address her friends and subjects before the start of every race.

Taffyta, Rancis, Candlehead and the other racers lined up and looked upwards, awaiting for their president to come bursting through the curtains on top of the popcorn box and begin the race.

But she didn't.

Jubileena squinted her eyes and peered to the top of the box, trying to see if Vanellope was up there. "Um, President Vanellope? Are, are you up there?"

No response came.

The racers turned to each other, confusion clearly visible on their faces and began silently talking with one another.

"Vanellope? It's time to start the race! Remember?" Crumbelina waited to hear the shrill voice of their president, but nothing came.

Taffyta grew impatient. "Vanellope, you get your buns out of that curtain right now and say something!" The others looked at Taffyta in complete shock. "T-Taffyta, I wouldn't," she ignored Adorabeezle's warning. "Vanellope! Get out here, now!"

No response.

She grumbled to herself, holding her breath as she did. Then a thoughtful look came across her face and she let out a little chuckle. She turned to her fellow racers. "Ok, I see what's going on." The others turned to her in anticipation. "She's just getting back at us for making fun of her fat friend of hers." She laughed to herself once again.

"Um, Taffyta," Rancis began. "I thought we agreed to not make fun of Ralph anymore." Taffyta turned to him. "I agreed to no such thing. That was all you guys! You're the idiots who," she was cut off by the sound of feedback piercing its way into each of their ears.

"Citizens of Sugar Rush."

They all looked up and saw Sour Bill standing above them on his usual perch on top of the popcorn box, microphone in hand. Taffyta rolled her eyes, put her hands on her hips and glared up at the tiny sour ball. "It's about time. Where's Vanellope?"

They all heard Sour Bill sigh into the mike and continued in his usual emotionless tone.

"I regret to inform you that Vanellope is currently absent."

A gasped rolled through the audience and through the racers.

Rancis' heart sped up.

_She's, she's gone? She's really gone?_

"What do you mean 'absent', tiny?" Taffyta asked him challengingly. "Uhh, absent as in she is nowhere to be found." Taffyta's lips formed a straight line before she started laughing again. "Well, if she is unable to attend this race, then, as second best racer in the game, I suppose it's my responsibility to,"

"Wrong," Sour Bill droned into the microphone, sending more feedback into the ears of the children.

He reached down and lifted up a large looking book which said 'President Rules and Stuff' in green crayon and sloppy handwriting. He opened the book and flipped through the pages until he found the one he was looking for and stopped.

"Page seventy-three paragraph six sub section B states that, and I quote, 'If I am ever to go missing or something like that, all Presidential duties, haha, duties, are assigned to Sour Bill until I return'." He closed the book and put it back down and looked down to the racers.

Taffyta crossed her arms and pouted. "Fine."

Sour bill nodded and spoke into the microphone.

"Now, let us," he cleared his throat, "begin the race."


	6. How to Play

"Alright gang, where do you wanna start?" Calhoun asked, raising her arms at her sides and gesturing around her. Felix cleared his throat and looked around. "Well, any place is as good as any I suppose. Ralph partner, where do you think we should start?"

Ralph rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Um, let me see . . . I don't know, I was thinking of starting down there," he pointed down the canyon wall and to the ground which was meters below them. Everyone looked at him with expressions of confusion. He shrugged.

"I was just thinking that we'd be less out in the open, you know? I just can't shake the feeling that we're, I don't know, being watched." He looked over his shoulder and into the woods behind them. He looked down to Vanellope whose eyes widened in sudden fear. "Just as long we don't go back in _there _again."

Ralph turned to see that she was pointing at the entrance of the woods. His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "Why? What was in there?" She gulped. "Well, see, it happened like this . . ."

Ralph looked down worriedly at her.

"When we got out of that portal thingy, I found Felix. So I picked him up and we went off looking for you guys," she explained. "Okay?" Ralph urged her to continue. "We heard the sound of gunshots and figured that must have been you guys." Calhoun raised her hand. "Guilty." Ralph glared at her, clearly not having fully forgiven her for almost killing him back there.

"Go on, kid," Ralph said. Vanellope gulped again, clearly not wanting to revisit this certain subject. "Then suddenly, this weird, tall, green thing with four legs and a square head come charging for my kart! I think I heard it hiss at us."

Ralph dropped to one knee, looking down at his friend who currently looked as if she's completely gone insane. It was then Ralph began to wonder if all that sugar and candy was messing with her head. She had always had an overactive imagination, but he had never seen it to this extent.

Ralph sent her a questioning glance which Felix must have seen because he interrupted him before he could say another word.

"Listen Ralph, I know it seems a little farfetched," he folded his hands together, "but I was there. I saw that thing with my own eyes." Ralph looked to his friend with concern and confusion swimming in his eyes. "All I'm saying is that we know absolutely nothing about this place or what possibly lives here. So, I agree with you. We should do our best to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible."

Ralph nodded in agreement and looked back down to Vanellope. "Alright kid, let's get going." She smiled at him quickly before glitching away from him and reappearing in the driver's seat of her kart. She honked twice. "Come on Ralph! Get on. Move your molasses!" He chuckled to himself and trotted over to her side.

From the corner of his eye he saw Calhoun unfurling her cruiser, the hover board floated a few feet off of the ground once it fully stretched itself out. She stepped up onto it and Felix followed, wrapping his arms around her leg to secure himself while in midflight. Ralph turned back to the kart and hopped on the back. It creaked and moaned slightly under his weight. He steadied himself on the rear and grabbed on both sides below him to secure himself.

Calhoun nodded in their direction. "We're following you Shortstack, lead the way." Vanellope grinned and gave her a thumbs up. She shifted the kart into reverse, twisted her body around so she could see behind through the gap between Ralph's feet behind her. She pushed her foot on the gas and the kart responded by moving backwards so fast and unexpectedly, Ralph nearly lost his grip and fell forward.

He kept his grip however as Vanellope backed up about one hundred feet before stomping on the brakes, making Ralphs grip on the rear fender even tighter as he was whiplashed backwards. "You've gotta start giving me some sorta warning when you do that, kid!" He snapped. She looked up to him unapologetically. "Sorry, but we're kinda in a hurry."

With those words of encouragement seared into Ralph's brain, she shifted the kart into drive and brought her foot down onto the gas pedal once again, launching the kart forward and sending mounds of tiny brown cubes of dirt sprawling in the air behind them as they rapidly approached the edge of the cliff. Ralph's face twisted from expressions which ranged to confusion and horror in a matter of seconds.

"Um, Vanellope," he said nervously over the roar of Vanellope's engine. "Where exactly are you going?" She squinted her eyes and looked up to him. "We're going to where you said we should go you big dummy! Down there!" She pointed forward to the cliff right before them.

Ralph's heart raced and his eyes grew wider than before as her kart grew closer and closer to the edge. Ralph couldn't tell whether his body was shaking with fear or if it was vibrating due to Vanellope's kart engine.

He looked up and saw Calhoun and Felix soaring above his head. They rose a few feet before swooping down, plummeting downward and vanishing under the cliff in an instant.

Ralph's heart caught in his throat as the kart grew dangerously close to the edge. Ralph instinctively raised his hands to cover his face and screamed at the top of his lungs. "Kid! What are you, AAAAHHHHHH!"

His eyes snapped shut and his hands were raised in front of him as if he were trying to push something away.

Suddenly, he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing upright and he felt Goosebumps crawling along his skin.

_Voop_.

Still screaming and wailing uncontrollably, Ralph anticipated the kart sailing over the edge of the cliff and sending them to their graves. But it never came.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHH-hhhhhhh- aahhhh- ah?"

His eyelids slowly parted and his screaming slowly died down. He lowered his arms back to his sides and opened his eyes fully. He was met with more ground beneath them as they quickly passed by even more cube-based trees. His chest was rising and falling visibly and his hand was raised to his heart. He shook his head and turned around to see a gigantic wall, a few hundred feet in height. Though they were driving away from the wall, he could see that it was composed of multiple cubes with a yellowish-brown rock texture to each of them.

Even in his perplexed state, it didn't take long for Ralph to piece together what exactly had just happened.

They had just glitched down here.

Ralph let out a long sigh and turned to face Vanellope, who was still driving forward with a smirk on her face as if nothing had happened at all. His mouth bent into a frown and anger quickly boiled in his chest. "The heck was that all about, kid?!" She turned around curiously and looked up at him. "What're are you whining about now?" She asked over the sound of her kart.

"You could have told me you were going to do that!" Her jaw dropped in surprise and her eyebrows fell. "Are you kidding me? You're whining about me glitching down here? What were you expecting me to do?" He shook his head. "Well how was I supposed to know you were going to do that?! You scared me half to death!" She turned away from him and continued driving.

"What were you planning on doing? Climbing down that thing?" He raised his finger and opened his mouth, ready to protest, but he found nothing to say.

_Well, glitching down here was better than the alternative. . ._

"Alright, you got me there. But a little warning would be really appreciated next time. I'm not as used to that glitching thing as you are, kid." She tilted her head upwards to look at him. "Got it!" He nodded and relaxed a little.

He heard a continuous humming noise behind him. He turned to see Calhoun and Felix soaring safely on her cruiser a few yards above their heads and well behind them. Calhoun was leaning forward and the wind was brushing wildly at her bangs with Felix clutching her leg securely with a hand placed over his hat to protect it from flying off. The repairman caught his gaze and sent him a friendly wave. Ralph responded by giving him a salute.

He turned forward once again and took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth. He twisted his head left and right slowly, taking in the massive environment around them. He noticed the sun was getting closer to the other side of the horizon. Tree after tree and strange cubed rock after strange cubed rock passed as Vanellope continued down the imaginary road they were on.

_You know, Vanellope was right._

_In its own, weird way, this place really is kind of beautiful._

_Shooooooom_

"Whoa! OW!"

A quick, warm, sharp pain shot into his forehead quicker than a hummingbird could flap its wings. Ralph touched the tender area softly with his fingertips and winced lightly. He turned around and saw a tree with particularly low branches swaying lightly as if something had passed by it quickly, or if someone had touched it in any way. It didn't take Ralph too long to realize that Vanellope had accidentally smacked his forehead against a stray branch.

He was about to protest to her, but something else caught his attention.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he noticed the wind seemed to have picked up. It was howling past his ears and violently ruffling his hair. Everything at their sides zoomed by in a heartbeat.

ZOOM

WHIZ

ZOOM

Vanellope eased her foot off of the gas and went for the clutch while grasping the lollipop joystick in a quick attempt to switch gears, but it didn't work.

She pulled back on the stick but it wouldn't budge. She looked down at it worriedly and grasped it with both hands trying to pull it loose. With her hands off of the steering wheel, the kart veered to the left and nicked the corner of a cube which was at the base of a hill. She yelped in fright and Ralph tightened his grip on the fender.

She let go of the joystick and placed both hands back on the pretzel steering wheel, slightly regaining control. Her eyes went wide with fear as her kart went faster and faster.

"Uh, Ralph?" Her voice was lost in the wind and he never responded. Instead, he shouted, "Hey kid! You mind slowing this thing down a little?" She brought her hand back down to the joystick and tugged repeatedly getting no result. She took her foot off of the accelerator and slammed down on the brakes. The brake pedal offered no resistance as her foot effortlessly pushed past it and slammed it on the floor.

The kart went faster.

With her hands on the steering wheel and eyes bugging out of her tiny head, she yelled, "That's the thing Ralph! I can't!"

He jerked his head downward and stared at her worriedly. "Wha-what? You, you mean you, whaddya mean you can't?" He did his best raising his voice over the roar of her kart. "I mean _I can't_! I don't have any control!"

On the cruiser, Calhoun and Felix watched curiously as Ralph and Vanellope sped up, getting farther and farther away from them by the second.

"Jiminy Jaminy," Felix said. "They're going awfully fast." Calhoun grunted and squinted her eyes as to get a better image of the two of them. She barely made out the tiny hand of Vanellope grasping tightly to the joystick, but it appeared to be jammed. They watched as they went careening past every tree and pixelated plant at breathtaking speeds.

Calhoun came to a quick conclusion.

"They've lost control of the kart." Felix lightly gasped and looked up to his wife with wide eyes. "How do you know?" She looked down to him. "Trust me. I know." She adjusted her foot on the cruiser's accelerator and raced after them.

Vanellope continued stomping on the brakes to no avail, it just kept falling beneath her foot having no effect on the kart whatsoever. She was helplessly gasping and jerking the steering wheel left and right to avoid the obstacles in their path. She looked back at Ralph who had his hands over his face as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"RALPH!" He lowered his hands and saw Vanellope looking up at him. "Quit acting like a big diaper baby and help me!" He looked left and right, frantically trying to find some way he could help. He looked at his hands worriedly as he came up with a desperate idea.

Ralph smashed his hands downwards on both sides of the kart. He felt a massive tug on his arms as his fists came into contact with the ground, immediately sending tiny cubed mounds of dirt and grass flailing upwards and splashing his face. Vanellope shrieked as the kart fought against Ralph's grip on the ground.

Ralph grunted and panted while trying to keep his grip on the ground, attempting to slow the kart. His massive hands leaving a trail of dirt in the grass.

"HHHHHNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG, AAAH!"

His hands hit something hard, really hard, weakening his grip and sending his hands back up. He rubbed his wrist tenderly and winced. He looked down at Vanellope. "It's no use kid! The kart's too fast!" Vanellope didn't look back at him. "We're toast!"

"Wreck-It! Pipsqueak!"

Both of their eyes shot open as a faint but clear voice broke through the sound of Vanellope's engine. They looked back and saw Calhoun and Felix still on the cruiser and racing to catch up with them. Vanellope waved her arms. "Help! We don't have any control!" Calhoun shook the bangs from her eyes so she could see more clearly. "I know! Steady yourself out! I'm sending Felix down!" Felix widened his eyes and his breath caught in his throat.

"What?!"

She looked down to her husband. "You're the only one of us who can actually repair that candy-coated runaway. The only shot we have is for you to put on your big boy pants, adjust your thinking-cap, and go fix that sucker! That's an order!" The look on Felix's face was a mixture of shock and awe. Then it melted into a warm smile.

"Golly. You send the honeyglows a-running to the cheeks when you-"" No time for that now! We've got a kart to stop!" He straightened his cap, put on a face of pure determination and nodded firmly. Calhoun nodded back and adjusted her foot on the accelerator. Felix kept his grip on her leg as the cruiser gave one last boost of speed, sending them rocketing toward Ralph and Vanellope, slowly but surely gaining on them.

Ralph was waving them closer to the kart. "Closer! Closer!" Calhoun looked down at him. "I know! I'm coming!" Vanellope continued twisting the steering wheel, avoiding every cube she could see while occasionally nicking one and lifting the kart on two wheels before violently crashing back down to the ground sending Ralph's arms wailing above his head uncontrollably.

Calhoun inched the cruiser lower and closer to the kart. Ralph took notice to this and outstretched his hand. "Jump Felix! I got you!" Felix took out his hammer and loosened his grip on Calhoun's leg, taking deep breaths and bending his knees, preparing to jump.

"On three!" Ralph called out with his hand still reaching up to him. "One. . ." Felix gulped. "T-two. . ." Ralph nodded encouragingly. Before he could finally give the signal for Felix to jump, Vanellope's shrill voice cut through the wind. "Ralph! Hold on!" Ralph retracted his hand and grasped the fender again.

"What? Why, AAAHHHH!"

Vanellope swerved the kart to the left to avoid another tree, nearly throwing Ralph clean off the kart and into the tree. She cleared it successfully but was then met with another tree that she avoided. After that, it was simply one tree after another. "What?! We're in another forest?! How many trees can this place have?!" Vanellope yelled.

To keep the cruiser safely airborne, Calhoun pitched upward and above the continuous line of leaves that stretched on for yards. "Gah! Another forest. I can't lower this thing while they're in there. We've gotta wait 'till they come out the other end." Felix grimly nodded and held on as they flew over the seemingly endless line of trees.

"Right! Left! Left! Right! No the other right!" Ralph was now in a state of panic, yelling directions to Vanellope by the second. "Ralph, shut up! I'm the one driving!" Ralph gulped and closed his eyes. Vanellope blew her bangs out of her eyes and stared dead ahead, not allowing anything else to distract her.

_Alright Vanellope, you can do this. You can do this._

Left.

Right.

Right.

She lightly turned the steering wheel this way and that, making sure she gave enough space between her and the next set of trees, but also not too hard so that she would end up capsizing the kart and injuring them, or worse.

Left, right, Vanellope's stomach began to turn lightly.

Ralph peeped one eye open and pointed forward. "Look out for that. . . Thing!"

"Wha? AAAHHH!"

Vanellope instinctively slammed the brake pedal when she saw a large, green, stick figure walking in her path, even though she knew that it wouldn't solve a thing at the moment.

While driving straight for the green . . . thing, she was able to get a better look at it. It had four, short, stubby legs connected to a square base which led to a long green stick which rose about four and a half feet with a green cube resting on top. Vanellope noticed that as the creature walked, the four legs were swinging forward and backwards, but they didn't seem to make any physical contact on the ground. It was almost as if it were _gliding_ or even _sliding_ rather than walking normally.

Vanellope shrieked again as the kart drew closer and closer to the creature.

_THUD_

The hood of the kart hit it dead on, sweeping its weird stubby feet from under it and sending it falling on the hood face first. Ralph and Vanellope gasped in unison. These next few seconds seemed to have slowed down for Vanellope. She no longer heard the wind rushing past her ears or felt her hair zipping by her face, she was only focused on this strange creature. Her heart sank as she saw the cubed head start to crane upwards and it looked her in the eye.

It was the scariest thing she has ever seen.

Its eyes were nothing but pixelated black spots which formed a rectangle on both sides of the face. Below the faded, black rectangles were more black spots which spread horizontally across and hooked down on both sides, creating a permanent frown. Vanellope had never seen anything so horrifying in her young little life.

Her mind reeled back to her very first race: King Candy rammed into her kart and was threatening to flatten her. She remembered his horribly distorted and pixelated face as his true form was revealing itself. A wide, yellow toothed, grin with wide, murderous eyes and a thirst for blood. She took another look down at the horrifying creature and screamed.

The creature's face was unfazed. Its entire body began losing its green tone and was replaced with a faint red color. A hissing noise emanated from it and its green color returned only to be replaced by red once again. Its body continued blinking red and hissing.

Ralph returned from his shocked stated and glared down at the strange being riding on the hood of the kart.

"Get off!"

He swatted the thing in the face with the back of his hand and it was sent sailing off the side of the hood, landing on its side and rolling alongside them.

Then something happened neither of them saw coming.

BOOOOOOM

The green monster disappeared in a large cloud of smoke and a loud noise penetrated their eardrums. The kart flew forward a few yards before landing on all four wheels shakily. Ralph looked back and saw where the explosion had occurred was a large crater which went deep into the earth, multiple squares and corners bordering the rim of the hole at the top. A few trees close to it began leaning and fell headlong into the hole.

Ralph stared in awe at the crater, but he was snapped back into reality when he heard Vanellope's voice cutting through the wind once again.

"I can see the end!" He turned and looked to where she was pointing and saw the final row of trees.

They past the final tree and rocketed out into the open field. Both of their eyes darted back and forth, making sure there was nothing else there was nothing left around them to get lost into. She let out a tiny sigh and relaxed a little in her seat. But her worry came back once a rattling noise finally made its way to her ears.

She looked to the back left side of the kart and her heart sank even further. Her left, rear cookie wheel was severely cracked and the gummy worm tires were loose. Above that, the cookie frame of the kart was weakened and tiny candy bits of debris were falling off. At this speed and with damage like that, the kart had a matter of seconds before it fell apart from under them.

The explosion from the green thing must have severely damaged the kart when it exploded. She gulped and tightened her grip on the pretzel steering wheel.

"Look!" Ralph pointed behind them and Vanellope followed his gaze. A small flicker of hope ignited inside of her as her eyes came upon Calhoun and Felix still on the cruiser and flying after them. Ralph waved his hands over his head again. "Faster! Faster! Hurry!" Calhoun looked down to Ralph with annoyance. "Shut it Junkpile! I know!" Ralph brought his hands down to his sides again.

Calhoun banked to the right so she was now flying side by side with the kart. Vanellope motioned them to come in closer to the kart. "Closer! Just a little closer!"

Calhoun bit her lip and lightly leaned lightly to the left, inching the cruiser to them. "It's good! Alright Honey, go for it!" Felix immediately let go of his wife, looked directly to the hood of the kart, and jumped.

He landed on his belly on the hood, sending his hands and feet sprawling in all directions to find purchase. He wrapped his fingers under the hood and shut his eyes and clenched his teeth in fear. "Felix! Felix! Can you hear me? This is a bad time to take a nap here, pal!" He ignored Vanellope's comment and continued holding on for dear life.

"Oh for the love of," Ralph muttered under his breath. He leaned cautiously forward and lifted Felix off of the hood with his thumb and forefinger by the back of his uniform. He lifted his friend to his eye level. "Felix! We really need you to focus right now! Ok?" Felix lightly opened his eyes and gave him a shy nod. Ralph returned it.

"Alright, we need you to fix the side of the kart. I'll lower you down." Felix gulped before nodding nervously. Ralph cupped his hand and Felix positioned himself into a sitting position in his palm. Ralph lowered his massive hand to the damaged side, careful as to not graze his knuckles on the fast moving ground. Felix took out his golden hammer, positioned it over the damaged section, and gave it a light tap.

_Bling_

A small golden light flashed and the cracks and rattling noise disappeared.

Vanellope, having heard the tone of Felix's hammer performing one of its miraculous repairs, instantly stomped her foot on the brake pedal. The kart obeyed and skidded to a halt. Ralph, having loosened his grip on the fender while lowering Felix down, was shot over Vanellope's head with Felix still in his hand. With the two of them screaming at the top of their lungs, Ralph tucked Felix safely under his arms and close to his chest before his back made contact with the grass.

Ralph's body curled into a ball as the momentum carried him forward, sending him head over heels with Felix still clutched tightly to his chest.

Ralph's body finally slid to a stop and he lied on his back on the grass below them with Felix hugging his friends' chest tightly. Ralph kept his eyes closed and clenched his teeth so his face was stuck in a wincing action.

Vanellope darted out of her kart and ran up to their sides. Calhoun came to their position and lowered the cruiser. She hopped off and came up next to Vanellope.

"Ralph! Stinkbrain! Can you hear me?!"

"Felix! Honey, are you ok?"

Both of their eyes shot open and Ralph rose to a sitting position, sending Felix falling off of his chest and onto the ground. He patted himself down all over, making sure none of him was missing or hurt. He sighed when he found everything still intact. Felix stood up and did the same.

Ralph looked down to his friend with a concerned frown on his face. "Sorry about that, Felix. You aren't hurt, are you?" Felix dusted himself off and faced Ralph with a kind smile. "No need to worry, Ralph. I'm perfectly fine. You don't have any bruises that need a fixing, do you?" He asked, holding up his hammer.

"Um." Ralph raised his arms and double checked to make sure he was unharmed. "Nope. I'm good." Felix nodded and returned his hammer to his tool belt. Calhoun then pounced over to her husband, scooped him in her arms and hugged him closely to her chest. Vanellope too sprang over to the two of them and jumped into Ralph's chest, digging her tiny fingers into the fabric of his shirt.

Ralph lightly laughed and set her down. "It's ok kid. I'm fine." Calhoun set down her husband and cleared her throat. "Alright, now that you two are ok, we need to figure out what the bits happened to your car."

Vanellope looked to the sergeant. "I have no idea! I was just driving and suddenly, everything stopped working! Then that monster came out of nowhere and nearly blew us into a billion pieces!" She threw her hands in the air to emphasize her point.

She turned to look at Ralph. "I told you it was real! But you didn't believe me or Felix! Shows what you know! Point for Vanellope!" Ralph shook his head and rolled his eyes at the dancing child. "It's not that I didn't believe you, it's just that,"" Hey Ralph, look over there," Felix interrupted, pointing to the side. Ralph followed his finger and his eyes landed on a little wooden object.

It was a sign.

Just a random, wooden picket sign jutting itself out from the earth in the middle of nowhere. Everyone's eyes squinted in confusion at it. "That's certainly odd." Felix was the first to walk over towards it. "Why in the world would someone put a picket sign where no one would even be able to find it?" The others followed him as he walked up to it.

He finally reached it and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Whatsit say? Whatsit say?" Vanellope was jumping to see over Felix's shoulder. "It, it doesn't say anything."" What?" He turned so the others could see it. Indeed, nothing was written on it. It was just a blank piece of wood.

"How odd. Why would somebody . . ." He trailed off. Calhoun stepped forward. "Maybe it's supposed to mean something? Try looking around it." Felix loosened his collar. "I don't know, Tammy." He grabbed the outer edge of the sign and swiveled his neck around to see if anything was on the other side. "I mean, I don't see-"

_Bing Bing_

Felix jumped back in shock as the sign blinked twice. Then, for no evident reason, a large white square materialized itself above the sign with black text inside. Felix gulped and read it aloud.

"Welcome. And thank you for joining the fantastic world of Minecraft, Litwakrouter950501."

"Minecraft? Hey! That's the word we saw floating in the sky a little bit ago!" Vanellope deducted. "And Litwakrouter950501 was that weird word inside the Wi-Fi room when I busted in. So, why did it call us that?" Felix looked back down to her. "Hold on, Vanellope. Let's read this first then ask questions later." He turned back to the side and continued reading.

"Minecraft is a game about breaking and placing blocks. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnal monsters, but as the game grew players worked together to create wonderful, imaginative things. It can also be about adventuring with friends or watching the sun rise over a blocky ocean. It's pretty. Brave players battle terrible things in The Nether, which is more scary than pretty. You can also visit a land of mushrooms if it sounds more like your cup of tea."

He paused. "So, this place, this entire world, is a game?" Ralph asked, spinning a full three hundred and sixty degrees. "That's impossible! There's nothing I know of that could store this much data and code into a single game!" Felix turned to his friend. "Well, it's like you said earlier Ralph. The internet is a big place. This must be some sort of online game."

Vanellope raised an eyebrow. "Online game? You mean there are others games out there besides the cabinets we have back home?" Felix nodded. "Many more, Vanellope. When we hopped into that portal, it somehow sent us to this game directly. You see, in online games, they require a username. Because we didn't provide ourselves with one, it gave us a default username. It just used our original home. Litwakrouter950501."

Vanellope nodded, still not fully understanding what exactly was going on. "And that sign also said that players could play with friends," Ralph added. "So, does that mean, you know, there are others in this world with us? What if they see us?" Felix sighed and lowered his head. "I don't know what to tell you brother." Calhoun pointed to the sign. "Wait, there's more."

Felix turned and read where his wife was pointing. He murmured under his breath as he read.

"It says here that we're in what's called 'The Tutorial Mode'. So, we aren't technically in the real game." He continued reading. "Wait, what in the world is this?"

A small, blinking square rested in the bottom right corner of the text box that said 'Press Here for Extra Help'. Vanellope looked over his shoulder and her eyes widened again. "We need extra help! Push it! Push it!" Ralph put a hand on her head to settle her down. "Just relax kid. Felix, go ahead" Felix nodded up to his friend and tapped the blinking button.

Immediately, the text box furled itself up into a scroll and shrank to a size to fit in Felix's hand. He took it and unfurled it.

"Oh my land. It's, it's a guide!" Everyone's heart skipped a beat and their faces lit up. "You mean, it shows us how to get out of this code forsaken jungle?" Calhoun asked hopefully. "Well, not exactly. It just tells me, well, take a look for yourselves."

He angled it so they could get a better look at it.

It displayed multiple rows of multicolored cubes and different creatures with a description for each. Everyone's hopes deflated in an instant.

"Well, that's all fine and dandy," Calhoun quipped. "But we're still no closer to getting out of here!" Felix looked up to his wife and gave her a warm smile. "Don't fret dear. We've at least got something to help us along the way, now," he said, furling the scroll back up and sliding it into an empty space in his tool belt.

"Well," Ralph said, rubbing his massive hands together, "I guess it's better than nothing." Felix beamed at him. "That's the spirit, brother! Now, let's get started . . ."


	7. Gone Again?

QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!

The tiny residents of the Fix-It Felix Jr. penthouse hopped and jogged hurriedly off screen and to their starting positions. "Alright," Gene huffed. "Is everyone here?" He scanned the small crowd of NPC's.

"Don?" The wealthy man with silver hair and a sailor's uniform, complete with jacket and white cap raised his hand.

Gene nodded. "Mary?" A tiny gloved hand came into view. "Here," her cheerful voice spoke up.

"Ok, Deanna?" Another hand shot up. "Present!"

"Norwood?" A balding man with a black suit walked up beside Gene. "I'm here too."

Gene nodded again in confirmation. "Great." He rubbed his hands together. "Now, we should- wait, where's Ralph?" The NPC's gasped and looked around in a worried frenzy. Gene rubbed his temples. "Oh, not this again. Ralph!" He called out in a firm whisper so the player couldn't hear. "Quarter Alert! Get your gargantuan fists over here this instant!"

He was met with no reply.

He threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "Gah! Fine. We'll start the cut scene without him."

The screen overhead blinked to life and revealed the player. "Alright everybody," Gene said. "Let's go."

The 8-bit music sang its cheerful tune as the NPC's hopped through the front doors of the penthouse. The player smiled and hovered his hand over the joystick. The screen cut to the lower left corner of the building where the large wrecking guy would begin destroying the building, but he didn't come.

A text box appeared out of thin air with the games' villain's catchphrase written inside it: "I'm Gonna Wreck It!" with no one under it. The player blinked a few times and looked closely at the screen.

"What the? Where's the big dude?"

Mary, Don and Gene opened their windows and looked down at the text box where Ralph should be standing. "Oh bits," Gene cursed. "Not this again." He saw the worried looks of Don and Mary next to him. "Don't panic. Stick with the program like last time," he said, trying to be as soothing as possible. They both nodded and looked straight at the screen, shouting "Fix It Felix!" as loud as they could.

On cue, a more upbeat, heroic tune began playing and the screen cut to the lower right hand side of the penthouse where Felix makes his grand entrance.

The colorful text floated in the air spelling out "I Can Fix It!", but no one appeared under there either.

The player blinked in surprised and tapped the screen.

Gene, Don and Mary gasped in absolute horror as they looked down at where their hero should be revealing himself. More and more windows opened on multiple different levels in the penthouse, all eyes diverted to both empty spaces.

The player jumped back in alarm as each resident of the towering penthouse flew into a state of panic. His confusion grew even more as each of the pint sized beings opened the side windows, crawled down the fire escape, and running aimlessly in the front yard, bouncing and shouting with pixelated frowns plastered on each of their faces.

While six or seven of them were running around on the ground level, several of them were opening and closing windows, popping their faces out only to scream and close them again. The process continued multiple times with no sign of slowing down.

The player, now growing impatient, bumped the side of the cabinet multiple times before kicking the base of it hard enough to send a flurry of 1's and 0's scrawling all over the screen. "Come on you stupid overgrown Gameboy."

His actions did not go unnoticed by the arcade's owner Mr. Litwak, who was idly swaying on the balls of his feet with his hands on his feet while whistling a tune watching all the customers play their games. He blinked and turned toward the Fix-It Felix Jr. cabinet.

"Whoa whoa there, son!" He held out his hands and quickly made his way over toward the boy. He approached him and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Slow down there, chief!" He said soothingly. The boy stopped and turned to Litwak.

"Now, what seems to be the trouble, Old Sport?" The boy gestured to the game screen. "It's acting all weird. Those tiny guys just started screaming and jumping around. They don't usually do that, do they?"

"Hm." Litwak curled his gray mustache with his thumb and forefinger and leaned into the screen, getting a better look at it. Just as the boy said, the NPC's were hopping and running and jumping around like nobody's business. _This same thing has happened once before not too long ago_, Litwak thought to himself.

"Oh my, looks like the games' messed itself." He gave a small chuckle. "Reminds me of my Nana." The boy looked up to Litwak and he returned his gaze. "Sorry pal. Here's your quarter back." He clicked his coin dispenser and a quarter fell into his palm which he handed to the boy. "Sorry to say this champ, but it's gettin' to be closing time. Why don't you just head on home then come back and try again tomorrow?"

The boy sighed and hung his head. "Alright." He received a few pats on the back from Litwak as he began trekking to the exit. "Good lad." He placed his hands on his hips, turned to the dysfunctional game cabinet and sighed. He placed a hand on the control pad. "Oh old buddy, what are we going to do with you?" He shook his head and walked to his office. "Welp, no need to let others waste a perfectly good quarter over this nonsense."

In Fix-It Felix Jr., the inhabitants are showing no sign of calming down. The majority of them have made their way to the front lawn with the others to panic. They held their tiny hands out in front of them and were running back and forth, screaming bloody murder as they did.

Gene pushed the front door open and stood on the front step, trying to get the attention of his citizens. He waved his hands and raised his voice. "Alright everyone, calm down. There's no need to panic, now would you all just," they were paying no mind to him as they continued their panicking session. Gene narrowed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"For the last time, SHUT UP!"

For what seemed like a millisecond, the Nicelanders froze in place and peered up to their mayor. He adjusted the collar of his suit and cleared his throat. "Thank you. Now, there is absolutely no need to-"

"Look!" Gene sighed as Lucy drew everyone's attention away from him and to the screen to see Litwak approaching them with a familiar strip of orange paper.

"Oh sweet mercy, no!"

"No, not this again!"

The Nicelanders murmured to themselves worriedly once more as Litwak placed the orange sheet over the screen with an image of a game cabinet with a thermometer in its mouth printed on it, creating a warm orange shadow looming over them. They all gaped at it in horror and shock.

For what seemed like a lifetime but was only in fact a few dozen seconds, no one even breathed a single word. All eyes were brought to the orange slip that hovered tauntingly in the air right above them.

"We-we're out of order? Again?!"

After a few more wordless moments, everyone burst into tears. Gene, still standing above them on the top step, glanced down at all of them. He shook his head and raised his voice once again. "Would you give it a rest already?" They held in their tears as best as they could, but nothing seemed to stop their chests from heaving and their shoulders shaking as they each took in sporadic breaths.

"We are all adults here," Gene continued. "Crying and panicking like a child isn't going to solve anything." They all looked up to their mayor. "So, what are we going to do? Both Felix and Ralph are gone now!"

"I'll tell you what we're not going to do: we're not going to panic, we're not going to cry, and we most certainly aren't going to sit around and do nothing," he said pacing to and fro and motioning in 8-bit fashion with his hands.

"What are you suggesting?" The other Nicelanders agreed with Don's question.

Gene looked to the worried crowd. "We are leaving our game."

Everyone gasped. All hats and hairpieces floated above their heads and glasses rattled from side to side on their faces with their hands to their mouths and eyes wide.

"You, you don't mean we're . . . going Turbo, do you?" This question received another startled gasp. "Absolutely not!" Gene waved his hands horizontally in front of with a stern expression on his face. "We are setting up a search party. We are going to find Felix and Ralph and bring them back before the arcade opens tomorrow."

He scanned the crowd of worried NPC's. "Norwood, you're in charge of the penthouse until we return. Make sure no one wrecks the place while we're gone. That's Ralph's job." Norwood jumped and pointed to himself. "Me? Wait, where are you going?" Gene pointed to three other Nicelanders. "Don, Mary, Deanna and I are setting out tonight. We're bringing them back."

"Well, pardon me for being the Negative Nelly here," Deanna spoke up. "But the arcade isn't a small place. Where are we supposed to start looking?" Gene rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, let's think of this logically." He walked down the steps and walked to the crowd who parted like the Red Sea to let him through.

"We know that as of late, where ever Ralph goes, Felix is sure to follow. So, I'm pretty sure that Ralph is the cause of this . . . As usual. So if we know this, Felix must have been, or still is with Ralph. And where is it that Ralph always goes after hours besides Tappers?"

The answer immediately popped into everyone's heads. Lucy approached him and said, "Oh, he always goes to that sweet little girls' game. Good golly, do they not make just the cutest pair you've ever seen?"

Everyone nodded and began agreeing on how they were indeed 'The Cutest Pair You've Ever Seen'.

"Yeah yeah yeah," Gene waved them off. "So, it stands to reason that that game is a good place to start. Don, Mary, Deanna, you ready?" The three Nicelanders in question stepped up and nodded. Gene returned it.

"Alright, let's get started."

_Later_,

Gene, Don, Mary and Deanna hopped off the monorail which lead to the entrance of Game Central Station. They walked through the arch and entered the massive station, humming and whistling as they went.

Mary was at the tail end of the line they made as they strolled by character after character making their way to the sugar coated game when something barely entered her field of vision. She turned and squinted her eyelids to see a large crowd gathering around something that she could not see due to the large gathering of characters.

She turned to the others and spoke up. "Hey fellas." The three of them turned to face her. "What do you suppose is going on over there?" Gene didn't so much as give it a second glance as he waved her off. "We have no time for this, Mary. Now come on, we've got a hero and Ralph to find." They took notice in how he spat out the word Ralph as if the word itself was poisonous.

"Let's go, the entrance to Sugar Rush is just up ahead."

_Meanwhile_,

CHEWS YOUR RACER!

The overly joyful announcer's voice blared as a row of nine colorful children stood frozen in place in front of their respective go karts.

The little girl sat excitedly in the driver's seat, grasping the steering wheel tightly with both hands and scooting forward in order to reach the gas pedal.

"Alright sweetie," her mom said standing behind the seat. "We have time for one race, but then we have to go." The little girl looked up to her mom. "Ok mommy."

She turned the steering wheel and each racer on screen glowed as she passed by each of them. "What the?" Her mom looked down to her. "Something wrong, Hun?" The girl leaned in closer to the screen. "Where's, the green girl?"

Mom looked at the screen questioningly. She pointed to Minty Zaki. "Isn't that her? The one with the bow in her hair?" The girl shook her head. "No. Not that one. The girl with a green sweatshirt. She can disappear and then come back in a different spot whenever I push this button," she pointed to the teal pad on the steering wheel which represented a horn.

"Well," Mom started. "Why not pick the pink one?" She shook her head again. "The one I want wasn't on the list yesterday either. I thought she'd be back by now." Mom made a tsk sound and shook her head. "Well, why not try a new racer?"

The girl sighed and looked to the screen. "No, it's ok." She pushed the orange coin slot and a dull _plink_ was heard. She reached down and retrieved her quarter.

"Let's go home, mommy." Mom rubbed her hair and guided her to the door as Litwak was giving the five minute warning bell. The gamers finished their games and exited the arcade with Litwak following them.

In Sugar Rush, Taffyta looked around and huffed in frustration. "Did you see that?! That kid had the perfect opportunity to pick me, and she just takes her quarter back! Can you believe it?!" The other racers simply looked at her in annoyed expressions. "Taffyta," Adorabeezle started, "I think we have bigger problems to be dealing with here."

Taffyta looked to the bomb pop themed racer. "Oh? What's bigger than being played five times today?" Adorabeezle lowered her eyebrows and her jaw dropped a little. "Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that our leader is missing?" Taffyta dismissed her concern. "That's no excuse!"

The other racers, having overheard the sound of Taffyta spazzing at a fellow racer turned their attention to them.

"Oh what are you complaining about now?" Jubileena placed her hands on her hips and stared at Taffyta. "Oh don't you start with me. Don't pretend you're not at all upset about not being picked today!"

Jubileena stared disbelievingly at Taffyta. "Actually, not really." Taffyta rolled her eyes and turned away from her. "In the long run, it doesn't really matter who gets picked the most, does it? Just as long as we're played, I think that,"

"Oh, you're so naïve, Jubi. Of course it matters!" Before Jubileena could speak again, Swizzle spoke up. "Quit getting your Twizzlers in a bunch. You're just upset that you weren't picked."

"Of course I am! I mean, didn't you see that? She had the perfect chance to choose me and she didn't! And whose fault is it?" The racers turned to each other. "Vanellope! It's her fault!"

The others sighed. "Here we go again." She turned. "It's true!"

"Taffyta, we don't have time for your petty competitive attitude right now." Minty stepped forward. "But Gloyd," the candy corn themed racer turned to Minty, "You were right. It happened again. At this rate, if Vanellope doesn't come back, we'll be lucky to be played half a dozen times tomorrow."

"And why do you care if that little attention hog comes back?" Taffyta scoffed. "When she gets back, they'll just come by and play as her all the fudging time!"

"So?"

She turned her attention to Candlehead. "What did you say?" The green haired girl shrugged. "Well, what difference what it makes if she does get chosen more than us? I mean, it doesn't matter as long as the game gets played, right?"

The others stared at her in shock. "Candlehead," Crumbelina said, "for once, you are absolutely right."

"What?!" Crumbelina looked back to Taffyta. "She's right. The point of being an arcade game is being played. Not who gets picked the most."

The others nodded and smiled. "And without Vanellope on the roster," Snowanna said, "our popularity is dropping like it's hot."

"Excuse us?" They silenced themselves and looked to the space between the grandstands where four small, neatly dressed people emerged, walking briskly to their sides.

"And, who are all of you?" Taffyta asked impatiently. The man with black hair and a mustache cleared his throat. "Pardon us, but we represent the game Fix-It Felix Jr. We are,"

"Fix-It Felix Jr.?" Rancis spoke up. He approached the small beings. "Isn't that the game where that big guy who hangs out with Vanellope comes from?" A man who appeared to be a sailor nodded. "That's the one! And I'm afraid we've run into a problem that maybe you children could help us with."

"Thank you, Don. I'll take it from here." The mustachioed man cleared his throat and leaned on the balls of his feet. "Now, allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Gene, mayor of Niceland. These are my,"" Yeah yeah, what do you want?"

Gene looked up at the girl dressed in bright pink. "Well, our good guy, Felix and Ralph have gone missing." Rancis gasped.

_They are gone too?_

"Because of the relationship Ralph has with that little girl here, we thought to look here. Have you seen them around?"

Rancis looked back to his worried friends, then he turned back to Gene. "Well, the truth is . . . Vanellope is gone too. We can't find her anywhere."

"Wait wait wait," Gene raised his hand. "You're telling me that you haven't seen them today either?" The peanut butter boy shook his head, his blond bangs shaking side to side.

"This is worse than we thought," Gene thought out loud. "If Felix and Ralph aren't here either, then what on earth are we going to do?" Gene turned to Deanna. Before he could say anything, Rancis spoke again.

"We're going to look for them."

The Nicelanders turned to him as did his fellow racers. "I'm not saying they're not here. Sugar Rush is a big place after all. We'll look for them. Together."

Gene shook his head. "Absolutely not. I am not working with a bunch of kids. I don't care how desperate we are."

"Listen Shorty." Gene narrowed his eyes at the sudden nickname. "As far as I can tell, your game is in bigger danger of being unplugged than ours. I can't guarantee that they're here, but I can give you my help. If we search together, then we have a better chance of finding them. Either you accept our help, or you can go look elsewhere."

Everyone's eyes went wide. No one had ever seen Rancis take on the leadership role like that. In fact, no one had really tried to. They just assumed that was Taffyta's job.

Gene grumbled and threw his hands in the air in surrender. "Gah! Fine! You can help us look."

Rancis nodded. "Thank you. Now," he turned back to the others. "Taffyta, Candlehead, Gloyd, you're with us, we'll search the south side of the map. Swizzle, Minty, Jubi, you search the east side. Adorabeezle, Snowanna, Torvald, the north. Citrusella, Nougestia, Sticky, you take the castle. Everyone got it?"

No one said a word.

"Got it?!"

They jumped. "Uh, yeah. We've got it."

He nodded. "Alright. Let's go find them!"


	8. Skeletons, Zombies and Creepers, Oh My

"Let's see, uh, granite, diamonds, wood . . ."

"Anything useful?" Ralph asked. Felix shrugged. "None that I can see."

The group let out a discouraged groan. "Oh come on! You've been looking for hours! Isn't there anything in that used tootsie roll wrapper that would help us get out of here?" Vanellope was at Felix's side and tugging on his jeans wildly and shaking her head.

Felix sighed and lowered the scroll. "I . . . I don't think so. But hey, let's not give up hope fellas. This is more helpful that just sitting around and waiting for something to happen, isn't it?" He rubbed her head gently. She didn't respond.

"Let's just keep looking."

For the past hour, Felix had been searching and scanning that scroll for anything that would be at all useful in figuring out where the exit of this strange game.

But to his and the rest of the group's dismay, he found nothing.

Although, as frustrated and discouraged as he was, he had to give the game some credit. This place has some of the most innovative and strangest technologies.

He really had to give it some credit.

This scroll for example wasn't any sort of paper Felix had ever seen. It was an interactive parchment.

On the paper was a list that displayed multiple rows of cubes and items with a description for each. But Felix discovered that with a single swipe of his finger, the rows scrolled upward, revealing more and more rows with a different variety of cubes.

It had to be the most amazing piece of technology he had ever held in his own two hands.

The cubes were fascinating too.

These cubes had a massively large variety of colors, designs and textures.

Grainy, rocky, chunky, black, green, tan, brown, leafy, wet, dry, hot, cool, dark, and every other adjective Felix could think of.

How anyone could be crazy enough to program a game of this magnitude was mindboggling.

After more and more finger swiping, Felix rolled up the touch-scroll and placed it back in his tool belt.

"I'm sorry guys. I couldn't find anything." Calhoun strode up beside him and scooped him in her arms and held him tight. "Now enough of that negativity soldier. It's like you said, we'll get out of here sooner or later." Felix wrapped his arms around her neck and the two lightly embraced, much to the chagrin of Vanellope who made gagging motions toward Ralph who only shook his head and chuckled.

"Wow, Captain Cranky," Ralph said to Calhoun. "I never knew you had a soft spot, even after you got married."

With one arm wrapped around her husband, she pulled out her pistol from its holster and pointed it at Ralph. His eyes went wide and his mouth made a perfectly straight line.

"Shutting up."

She holstered her gun and returned her attention to her husband. They finally parted and stared deeply at each other. Vanellope was about to protest their public displays of affection until something else caught her attention.

"Um, is it just me, or did it get darker?"

Ralph, Felix and Calhoun looked up to the sky to where the sun had been just a few moments ago. And just as Vanellope had pointed out, the sky had gotten darker. The square sun hovering over them was now dangling over the horizon, sending a light blue curtain over them.

"But, but how is that even possible?" Ralph scratched his head in confusion. Didn't we, I don't know, just get here? It's barely been an hour!" Calhoun set down Felix. "Well, this is a different environment than we're used to partner," Felix pointed out. "Time must move differently here."

"He's right," Calhoun pointed out. "We don't know the first thing about this place. And I'm not about to get blown up by some walking green matchstick. Let's get moving."

By the time she finished, the sun had already disappeared below the horizon line and the sky above them dissolved into a pitch black dome with tiny white squares dotting it all over. They each noticed a slightly brighter light coming from the other side of the map. They turned and saw a white square slowly rising into the sky to replace the sun.

"Wow," Vanellope said. "This game just gets more and more unbelievable, don't it?" Calhoun huffed. "Yeah, yeah it's stunning. Now get off your seats and let's go. Fix-It, you're with me. Pipsqueak, Wreck-It, turn on your headlights and follow us." Vanellope gulped. "Uh, yeah, about that?"

Calhoun turned to the child. "What is it?" Vanellope twiddled with her fingers. "Well . . . About the headlights . . ." Felix took out his trusty golden hammer. "Were they damaged in that explosion? Don't worry. I can fix it!"

"No, it's not that. It's just . . ." Ralph walked up behind her. "Come on kid! Spit it out! What is it?" Vanellope faced her friend. "My headlights don't work," she admitted.

Everyone's eyes bugged. "They don't what?" Ralph asked with an eyebrow raised. "They don't work," she repeated. "Wha-what do you mean they don't work?" Vanellope narrowed her eyes at the wrecker. "What are you hard of hearing? 'They don't work' means that they don't work!"

Ralph looked to the kart then back to Vanellope. "Then what are those two things on the front?" She looked over to where he gestured. "Those are just gumdrops. They're just there for decoration. What's the big deal anyways?"

"Well who builds a car with headlights that don't work?! What's the point?"

"Why would I need functional headlights in a game that has an unlimited supply of sunlight?"

"Both of you shut it! Sweet sons of, you two can bicker about anything, can't you?" They stopped and directed their attention to the infuriated sergeant. "The more you two argue, the longer we're here for. So settle your petty squabble and get moving. Now!"

The two of them stood frozen in place, staring at the sergeant. Vanellope looked to her kart, then back to Ralph and sighed. "Well, there is still some light from that blocky piece of Swiss cheese up there," she said, gesturing up to the square moon in the sky. "I suppose it wouldn't be so bad to drive," before she could finish, Felix cleared his throat.

"Actually, it's probably best all of us just walked."

"What?!" The remaining three looked to the repairman in shock.

"Now Vanellope, I am in no way questioning your driving ability, but as we stated earlier, no one here knows anything about this place. I simply couldn't bear it if you accidentally hurt yourself driving in the dark in some foreign environment."

Vanellope was ready to protest, but Ralph put his hand lightly on her head to silence her. "He's right kid. It's too risky."

Felix nodded at Ralph. "Thank you Ralph. And Tammy," he turned and faced his wife, "we should probably stay on the ground with the two of them as to not leave them behind." Calhoun blew her bangs from her eyes and grunted.

"Fine." Her cruiser shrank beneath her feet (which she had already undone while Felix was talking), and she slung it over her shoulder. He nodded. "Thanks dear." She stared down at him. "You're lucky you're cute, Fix-It." His cheeks glowed bright red and he turned back to Ralph and Vanellope.

"Now, let's get a move on, shall we?"

"Um," Ralph and Vanellope twisted their heads left and right. "Where?"

Felix shrugged. "Anywhere. We just need to find something that will help us get out of here."

"Oh yeah," Vanellope rolled her eyes. "_That's_ going to be easy." Felix knelt in front of her. "No one said it was going to be easy, Vanellope. But you know what?" She looked up at him questioningly. "Everything that is worth doing is rarely ever easy. You've just gotta,"

His heartwarming speech was interrupted by what sounded like someone gurgling an entire bottle of mouthwash.

_HRRRGGMMGHRRRRGGGMMM _

Everyone's eyes widened and they turned to Calhoun, who only held her hands up defensively and shook her head. "Don't look at me."

It came again.

_HRRRRRGGGMMMHRRRRRGGGMMM_

Calhoun immediately whipped out her repeater rifle and aimed it at a nearby tree. The sound came again from the other side. She rolled and landed on one knee, pointing the gun at another tree. She turned her head left and right, looking for whatever made that noise.

"What is that?" Felix stepped backwards to Ralph.

Calhoun looked over her shoulder to the three of them. "We've gotta move. Now."

Vanellope's eyes widened. "Wha-what? What is it?" Calhoun lowered her rifle and jogged back to Felix. "No idea. But enough with the senseless chatter and move! Now!" Ralph wasted no time. He leaned down, scooped Felix and Vanellope into the crook of his arm and tucked them close to his body. He then trotted over to Vanellope's kart and hoisted it onto his shoulder. He turned to Calhoun who was waving her hand rapidly and gesturing him to follow. "Come on! Let's go let's go let's go!" She barked harshly. Felix wrapped one protective arm around Vanellope while holding his hat on his head as Ralph took off in a sprint, following Calhoun.

She had her rifle out and at the ready, pointing it this way and that as she ran past tree after tree, that strange gargling noise emanating from every direction. She glanced back to see Ralph clutching her husband and Vanellope under his arm and carrying the kart in the other. She let out a startled cry as she brought her foot down to take another step forward but no ground came to meet her.

She fell about a foot before regaining her lost footing and continued her jog. She glanced back at Ralph. "Look out! There's a step!" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised as he neared the random shift in elevation. He too let out a quick yelp as he fell a quick foot down, causing his grip on the kart to loosen. He fumbled with it with his single hand for a few moments before grasping it successfully and tucking it under his arm.

"Careful with the precious cargo, pal!" Vanellope shouted at him. He didn't respond, he just kept following Calhoun.

The sergeant stopped dead in her tracks and held up her hand, gesturing Ralph to stop. He saw her signal and came to a wobbly stop, his upper body teetering forward as his mass added with his two friends and a full-sized go kart carried him forward. He took one more step forward and regained his balance.

Once he had his footing back, Ralph looked left and right, letting his surroundings sink in. They were in the middle of a circular clearing surrounded by trees.

Calhoun aimed her rifle forward once again and lowered her body into a proper fighting stance. She whistled over to Ralph. He turned and saw her gesturing him over to her side with her head. He nodded and looked down to his friends with wide eyes. "Um, er, um, let's see . . ." He rolled the kart back onto the ground before lowering Vanellope and Felix into the driver's seat.

He held up his hand and said, "Stay with Felix." Vanellope made an attempt to crawl out but was apprehended by Felix who grabbed her by the waist and pulled her securely to his lap. She wiggled and squirmed as Ralph jogged next to Calhoun.

"Hey! No fair! I wanna help!" Felix cupped his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams. "Sorry Vanellope. It's too dangerous."

Ralph approached Calhoun breathlessly. "Sarge. What do you need?" She shot him a quick glance. "Cover my back, Wreck-It. I'll need some back up." He darted his head back and forth. "What is it we're fighting, exactly?" She looked at him in irritation and annoyance. "I have no idea," she snapped. "Just keep me covered, shut your chew hole and look alive!"

"Uh, uh, yeah! Right! Ok. Ok. Got it. Gotcha." He turned his back to her and raised his fists. The two of them paced in a slow circle, their feet crisscrossing over each other like an intricate dance with their backs to each other.

_Crunch_

Ralph stopped pacing and raised his fists higher as Calhoun zipped around and began rapidly firing into a patch of trees. Ralph jumped in surprise and fell backwards on his rump as he watched the unhinged sergeant unload into the trees much like she had to him earlier that same day. Streams and bolts of light passed over his face as tiny explosions erupted as they made contact with either tree trunks or grass.

She released her finger from the trigger and the never-ending line of bullets ended, smoke rising from the barrel of her gun. He scoffed and rose to his feet. "Geez Sarge. Give a guy a warning next time!" She looked over in his direction. "Hm? Oh. Sorry." He rolled his eyes and looked over at the wave of destruction that she had just caused. "Well, whatever it was, I'm sure it's,"

HRRRGGMMMMHRRRRGGMMMMM

Calhoun raised her rifle but didn't fire as Ralph raised his fists close to his face.

Then they saw it.

At first it only appeared as a quick, black shimmer in the black of night. Ralph could barely make out the shape of the figure. It had a square head, much like that green thing he and Vanellope encountered, but it had a broader side to it under the neck which were clearly shoulders. He could also see two arms swinging at its sides.

Ralph could see the legs swinging as well, gliding along the ground rather than making actual contact with the ground.

It stopped.

Ralph's heart stopped for a single moment as this new creature began approaching them. The figure becoming slightly bigger as it inched its way to their position. Its body emerged from the shadows and into the pale moonlight, finally revealing itself.

The first thing Ralph and Calhoun noticed about it was its color. Same as the stick creature that exploded in the forest, it had a sickly, grainy green color to it. It had a strange teal shirt and dark blue pants over its rectangular limbs. It had small, black dots which made up the eyes with more black spots that composed the mouth. The arms were raised upward and it continued to walk straight for them.

"What the bits is that thing?" Calhoun readied her rifle and pointed it straight at the strange being before pulling the trigger, unloading a few rounds that hit it straight in the chest.

The creature was pushed off of its feet and landed on its side, letting out the same gurgling noise it had made before. Then, a strange cloud of pixelated smoke engulfed its body. The weird layered puffs of smoke lingered for a few moments before subsiding, revealing nothing under it. The creature had just disappeared.

Calhoun lowered her rifle with an eyebrow raised. "What in Davey Crocket's coon tail just happened?" Ralph only shrugged. "I dunno what to tell you." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I just,"

HRRRGGMMMHRRRRRGGGMMMM

Ralph was cut off mid-sentence by the same sound. He raised his fists and Calhoun raised her rifle back to the forest where two more creatures, both of them exactly looking like the one that had just disintegrated right before their eyes.

"More of them? You've got to be fragging kidding me!"

Ralph placed his hand on the barrel of her gun and lowered it. He received a questioning glance from her. "I got this one."

He bolted past her and ran at the two creatures with his fists raised, screaming at the top of his lungs. "HHHYYYYYYYEEEEAAAHHH!"

He jumped off of the ground and slammed both fists onto one single creature. He smirked as it instantly disappeared in another cloud of dust right under his hands. He stood back up, pivoted on his bottom foot to turn and face the last of them. He connected his fist with the thing's chest violently, sending it flying backwards and landing on the ground before the cloud came and it disappeared.

Ralph smiled and wiped his hands together. A look of pride plastered on his face as he turned to face Calhoun once again . . . who had her rifle pointed right at him.

"Ralph! Duck!"

He stared at her in confusion before diving out of the way the exact moment Calhoun delivered another unceremonious stream of bullets in his direction. He turned and saw three more creatures dropping instantaneously to the ground. He turned onto his belly and began pushing himself to his feet. He stopped once he saw at least half a dozen more of those things approaching them.

He huffed. "Sweet Mother Hubbard! How many of these things are there?" He rose to his feet and charged straight for them.

At the kart, Felix was having a difficult time restraining Vanellope, who was still thrashing and squirming under his grip. "Vanellope! Hold still! We can't do anything to,"

_Bing bing_

_Bing bing _

Both of them stopped arguing as a familiar sound came from Felix's tool belt. He let go of the child (now too exhausted and intrigued to go help her friend) and reached for the scroll, which was blinking. "What in the name of," Felix muttered under his breath. He opened the touch-screened paper to reveal a completely new page.

He read.

"Looks like you've gone off and disturbed this peaceful night." Felix narrowed his eyes and the paper. "Oh darn thing! Does it always have to be such a smart Alec?" His eyes widened and he put his hand over his mouth. "Please forgive my potty mouth Vanellope." She stared up at the super intendant then back to Calhoun and Ralph, who were doing their best to keep a horde of these weird looking guys at bay. "No time to be polite sunshine! Keep reading!"

Felix turned back to the paper.

"Hopefully, this guide will prove useful as you fight off these vicious creatures of the night." Vanellope's ears visibly perked up. "Guide? There's a guide! Read it! Maybe it'll help!" Her tiny, shrill, high pitched voice was almost drowned out by the sound of Calhoun yelling and shooting aimlessly while taking out almost every one of the creatures.

Felix swiped his finger across the screen and it scrolled downward, revealing another page with tiny, blocky creatures, each with a little description next to them. Vanellope crawled onto his lap to take a look. Her large eyes widened and she let out a small gasp as she came across the familiar green stick figure from before.

"That's it!" She screamed, pointing at the paper. "That's the thing that we saw!" Felix adjusted the paper so he could read it clearly.

"It says here that it's called a, uh, a Creeper." Vanellope shuddered at the mere thought of that thing. "'Creeper' isn't a good enough word to describe how scary that thing is. Keep reading." Felix nodded and read the Creeper's description.

"This guy (much like the other bad guys in this world) prefers the night and will explode if startled. Keep your distance and use any long ranged weapon you have against it. It's your best bet." Vanellope scoffed at it. "Well that's all fine and dandy. Now let's see if it says anything about these butt munches," she said with a thumb pointed at the creatures attacking their friends (and wife). Felix nodded and scrolled down, mumbling to himself as he skimmed through the info.

"Uh, uh, here!" He stopped the screen from scrolling as an image of the creature in question popped up.

"Zombies," he read. "Now I'm sure this guy needs no introduction. These undead creatures will stop at nothing to make you their next meal or seal your imminent doom." He backed up from the paper with wide, frightened eyes.

"Well that's lovely," Vanellope quipped. Felix continued. "They prefer the night and are relatively easy to take down in hand-to-hand combat." As if on cue, the sound of Calhoun howling and grunting as she fended off a wall of zombies with her rifle.

Vanellope stood up in the seat and pointed to Ralph and Calhoun. "Felix, c'mon! We've gotta help them!" Felix lowered the paper and looked to Vanellope. "Darling, it's much too dangerous to,"

_Shoom_

_Tink_

"Whoa!" Felix let out a quick cry of surprise as a long, thin object soared through the air and hit the side of the kart, digging itself into the cookie frame.

Felix peered over the side to get a look at what the thing was. It didn't take long for him to realize what it was.

An arrow has stuck itself into the side of Vanellope's kart.

The shaft was shorter than most arrows, about the length of his forearm. At the end of the pixelated wood was a pair of blue, blocky feathers. "What in the world?" He reached forward to unstick it from the side of her kart.

_Whoosh_

Another arrow shot over Felix's head in the blink of an eye. His eyes widened as he found where exactly it had come from.

Emerging from the shadows, three, white, blocky figures holding small bows in their hands revealed themselves. Vanellope peeked over the edge of the kart to get a look at the new monsters. Neither of them needed the guide to figure out what these guys were.

"Skeletons!" Vanellope shrieked with her finger pointing in their direction. "Skeletons with bows and arrows!" Felix pushed Vanellope downward as they each sent a volley of arrows in their direction. "Yipe!" Felix held onto his hat and ducked, now scrunched on the floor with a terrified looking Vanellope. Felix reached a cautious hand over the side of the cart, grasped the arrow that was stuck, and pulled it out. He dropped it to the ground, took out his hammer, reached out over the side and tapped the damaged area. It was repaired instantly with its high tone and bright light before reeling his arm back in.

Calhoun and Ralph, still firing and punching at just about everything that moved, stopped when they heard the sound of a high pitched squeal coming from Vanellope's kart.

Ralph froze in place for a split second and turned to see three new creatures approaching the kart.

"Kid!"

"Felix!"

With a swing of his hand, Ralph swatted away three zombies before gripping one in his palm and chucking it in their direction. Calhoun in return took aim and pulled the trigger, instantly destroying two skeletons while the flying zombie collided with the remaining skeleton, both of them disintegrating instantly.

Ralph let his arms fall limply to his sides as he breathed in deeply while Calhoun lowered her gun and panted. Both pairs of eyes were aimed at the kart, silently praying that they were unharmed.

After what felt like an eternity, two tiny figures rose from the seat with large, frightened eyes. Ralph and Calhoun let out long breaths of relief to see their friends (and husband) still breathing. Before Ralph could say anything, Vanellope raised one shaky arm and pointed behind them, her eyes about ready to pop out of her head.

"C-C-C-Creeper!"

"Wha?" Ralph raised an eyebrow and turned around.

The sight made his heart plummet.

Approaching them was a familiar tall, green creature. Its four stubby legs gliding along the ground.

Calhoun snorted. "Don't worry. I've got this." She slung her rifle over her shoulder and began pacing toward the monster. Ralph raised his hand. "Wait! Calhoun! No!" She didn't pay his warning any attention. The moment she was within range of the Creeper, she raised her right foot and slammed it straight into the chest (or neck?) of it, shooting its feet from under it and falling on its back. She smirked and wiped her hands. Her smile faded as the monster began to blink red.

_Hiss_

"Huh?"

Ralph reacted instinctively. He lunged forward, wrapped his hands around her and pulled her tight into his body protectively. He turned his back to the downed Creeper and began running.

He was too late.

_BOOOOOOM_

Felix and Vanellope ducked under the kart once again as Ralph was completely blown off of his feet and was propelled forward. He never lost his grip on the sergeant as the two of them flew seven feet forward, skidding to a halt just in front of the kart.

Once he felt the coast was clear, Felix peeked over the windshield and saw the crater that was left by the explosion. His eyes quickly fell to the smoking bodies of Ralph and his wife lying side by side.

"Tammy! Ralph!" He skipped out of the kart and landed on the hood, then hopped one last time onto his antagonist's belly, inspecting the damage. Ralph's arms were blackened slightly and his face was bruised. Felix winced as he took out his hammer and tapped his friend.

_Bing_!

Ralph's injuries instantly vanished and he sat up straight in a start, sending Felix sprawling to the ground. Ralph patted his body to make sure he was unhurt, then let out a quick laugh as he discovered he was alright.

Felix scrambled to his feet and dashed over to his wife. He turned her so she was laying on her back. Her eyes were closed and her face was bruised much like Ralph's. Black marks and scratches were visible on her full body armor. Ralph leaned down to her side to make sure she was alright as well. Felix tapped her armor.

_Bing_!

In an instant, she bolted upright with a loud, startling gasp for breath. She sat up so fast, she unintentionally head-butted Ralph.

"Ouch! Oho man! Geez!"

Calhoun gripped her side tenderly as she coughed violently as Ralph fell on his back, grasping his tender spot on his face and winced in pain.

Once she was done coughing, Felix jumped and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her close. She was shocked at first, then gave into the hug. "You gave me an awful scare there, dear." Felix patted her head and rubbed her hair gently in his palm. She sighed and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Sorry Fix-It."

Ralph rose slowly into a sitting position, looking at the un-proportional couple, still holding his head. "I'm fine too by the way. You know, in case anyone was, whoa!" His sarcastic quip was cut short as a flurry of blue pixels formed in front of him. They rematerialized into Vanellope as she pushed Ralph back to the ground, her tiny arms outstretched across his chest.

"Don't ever do that to me again, Stinkbrain! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Ralph could only smile as he wrapped his arm around the child.

The four of them said nothing for the next few minutes. They just sat with each other, rocking slowly from side to side in the pale moon light, one being thankful that the other was unharmed.

Vanellope lightly gasped. "Hey guys, look." She pointed over Ralph's shoulder. The rest of them turned to see what it was she was instructing them to look at.

On the other side of the map, a warm, red blanket was filling the sky. Below it, the square sun was peeking over the horizon, rising slowly into the sky. Calhoun let out an impressed whistle. "Jeepers," Felix said. "That was awfully fast."

The four of them said nothing as the square sun successfully emerged, light now spilling in from every direction.

"Uh, guys?" The group turned to Vanellope who was sitting in the palm of Ralph's hand. "Can we take a break now?" They let out little chuckles and looked back to the child.

"Sure, kid." She beamed up at her friend.

"Alright you wusses," Calhoun suddenly barked, "take five, then we're back on the road."


	9. the Cave

"So those tall green guys are called Creepers?"

Vanellope looked up and nodded. "Yup," she confirmed. "And the other green guys were zombies." Ralph rolled his eyes. "Figures. What is it with kids these days and zombies?" Vanellope shrugged and continued. "Oh, and you know those skeleton-looking jokers? With the bows and the arrows and everything?" Ralph nodded. "Yeah."

"Those were skeletons." A smirk engraved itself on her face and she giggled.

Ralph stared at her in an unamused fashion and slumped his shoulders down, sitting even lower.

"Great. So, Felix and sergeant Shoot-Em-Up are gone and I'm stuck here in the middle of nowhere with a sugar happy guttersnipe," he said sarcastically, giving Vanellope a playful stink eye.

Vanellope first shot him a disapproving glance, then she returned his playful gaze. "Yeah, but I'm _your_ sugar happy guttersnipe!" She leapt from the seat of her kart and latched herself to his chest before climbing up his shirt and positioning herself on his shoulder. She practically shoved her face into the side of his and planted the sloppiest, loudest kiss she could muster on his cheek.

"_MUAH_! Heheheh." She giggled triumphantly then let out a surprised yelp as she was plucked from his shoulder by her tiny hoodie and dropped back into the driver's seat. Ralph rubbed his cheek with his shoulder and let out a series of grumbling noises. She caught the look of annoyance in his eyes and looked up at him unapologetically.

"Ah come on Ralphie, I'm just playin' is all."

Ralph bobbed his head from side to side and rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, yeah." Vanellope giggled once more and looked around.

"Man, they've been gone a really long time, haven't they?" She observed.

Ralph straightened up and looked from side to side as well. "Yeah. They, they are taking a little longer than I thought."

Vanellope gulped. Ralph glanced down at his friend sympathetically. "You aren't afraid they've run into more of those monsters are you? Cuz I'm sure-"

"I'm not worried about that," Vanellope assured him. "Felix's magic paper thingy said that those guys only come out at night. But . . ."

"But . . ?" Ralph urged.

"But you remember when yesterday, well, 'yesterday'," she put air quotes over the word yesterday seeing as how the sun had successfully fallen and risen back into the sky in what barely even felt like an hour, not even close to resembling a full day, "when we ran into a stray Creeper in the middle of the woods?"

Ralph nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, what if they ran into another one and they each got blown up into a million pieces? What if Felix dropped his hammer and they won't be able to use it if they get hurt? What if-"

"Easy there, kid. Your head is goin' a mile a minute, here. Just take a deep breath, and relax." Vanellope obliged, taking in a deep, shaky breath and letting it out slowly. Ralph reached down and patted her on the back gently.

"Atta girl. Now, we both know that as long as they've got each other, there really is no reason to worry, right?" She nodded. "And besides, Calhoun's got that big laser gun, um, thingy. If anything so much as bats an eyelid at her is going to be blown to smithereens. And you know why?" Vanellope raised her eyebrow curiously. "Because that's her _duty_."

Vanellope raised her fists to her mouth and muffled a little giggle. She looked back up to her friend. "Thanks Ralph. But I'm really not worried about them. I'm just getting so bored!" Ralph sighed and slumped his shoulders down. "Me too, kid," he admitted.

After the sun had risen higher into the sky and Calhoun declared their little break over, Felix voted that he and Calhoun set off on the cruiser and search the skies for anything that might lead them back home. Which meant that Ralph and Vanellope had no choice but to wait where they were until they returned.

From the instant they left, Vanellope slumped down into her seat and plopped her head backwards lazily towards the sky while Ralph hopped onto his usual perch on the rear fender of the kart, resting his elbows on his knees and keeping his chin elevated on his knuckles.

After what felt like another eternity, Vanellope lowered her head and looked down to the dashboard of her kart. She blinked.

"Hey Ralph," she called.

"Hm?" He blinked back into reality and gazed down at her. She pointed at a specific object resting on her dashboard. "Look at that."

Ralph knitted his brow but looked to where she was pointing.

After all the trouble they've been in and the chaos they've run into, the two of them had completely forgotten about her kart's newest feature.

The tiny blue screen resting right beside the red button was once displaying the number 3.

Both characters gazed down at the screen in confusion.

"But I don't get it," Vanellope said after a quick moment of silence. "I used the first licorice tether when I was pulled into that blue thing in Game Central. How did I get it back? I should be down to only two," she declared and looked up to her friend hoping he could give her some sort of explanation.

He simply shrugged. "Maybe once we landed in this world, it automatically reset itself, like it does after you finish a race or restart it, er something." Vanellope returned her gaze back to the dashboard. "It's as good an explanation as any, I guess." She sighed again. "Well, might as well get rid of 'em." She reached forward to push the button.

"Wait!" Ralph held his hand forward and shouted in an attempt to stop Vanellope.

She flinched and reeled her hand back faster than a bolt of lightning. "What?" She asked with a mix of fright and a hint of irritation in her shrill and loud voice. "What is it?"

Ralph relaxed a little and gestured to the button. "Well," he started, "we, we don't know anything about this place." Vanellope looked up at him dumbfounded. "Uh, ga-doy we don't! I thought we already established that vital piece of information," she said sarcastically.

Ralph simply huffed and continued. "What I'm saying is that maybe that licorice rope could come in handy from time to time. You never know when we might need it." Vanellope blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Fine, whatever."

Ralph was about to speak against her current sour attitude until both of their ears perked up at a familiar sound.

The sound of a soft yet very clear hovering device floated into their ears and grew gradually louder and closer. They both looked up and were relieved to see a taller black figure with hair blowing wildly behind her with a smaller blue figure clutching his hat and wrapping his other hand around his wife's leg for balance.

Calhoun stopped once she was hovering directly above the two of them and lowered herself down so she was eyelevel with Ralph. Its purple, circular rays were shooting downward from under the board, somehow keeping it afloat using technology that boggled Ralph's mind. Ralph's spirit rose just a little bit higher once he saw the smug look on her face and the pleased expression plastered on Felix's.

She looked down to Vanellope. "Shortstack, start your engine and follow me." Vanellope pushed the button to start the kart. It rumbled to life and colored clouds of sugar puffed up from both sides.

"What?" Ralph asked. "Wh-where are we going? What did you find?" He asked her with wide eyes, tightening his grip on the kart and prepared to rocket forward.

The sergeant rose higher into the air with her hover board. "No time," she simply said. "Just sit tight and follow us."

_Later_,

"Come on already! How much further?" Vanellope cried over the deafening roar of her kart.

Calhoun and Felix, still on the cruiser and flying relatively close to the ground not too far in front of them, were leading the way to whatever it was they said they've found.

Calhoun whipped her head back to glance behind her shoulder at Vanellope. "Patience young blood! We'll get there when we get there!"

Vanellope let out a breath of disappointment and slumped back into her seat, ignoring her long strands of hair as they whipped mercilessly across her face.

As far as Ralph could tell, this was the most terrifying ride he's been on in his life.

The past few times he and Vanellope were on the kart, they were usually met with a relatively flat, smooth ground with few twists and turns save for the endless rows of square trees lying sporadically everywhere. But this time around, it felt as if they were going around the world for a few laps, which meant that they found one hill after another. But Ralph took notice that these weren't normal hills with a slight slant downwards like one of the many tracks in Sugar Rush. Oh no, these hills _too_ were made out of multiple dirt and grass cubes that seemed to bunch together and stacked multiple times on one another like one plateau sitting on top of another, making it impossible for Vanellope's kart to simply drive up it.

_So what was the next option?_

_Glitching!_

Yes, in this arcade forsaken place, it seemed that every obstacle had to be avoided by _glitching_.

Each time Vanellope glitched herself, Ralph and her kart onto the next flat level of ground, it sent his stomach into a spin cycle, tossing and turning and making the tiny hairs on his arm stand at attention in a static frenzy.

Ralph cupped his hand over his mouth to make sure that the contents of his stomach stayed there.

_Honestly, how is she able to put up with this feeling every time she does it?!_

"Um, I'm with the kid on this one, Sarge," he said, his voice barely audible to Calhoun, but his plea reached her ears nonetheless. "How close are we?" She didn't reply, so Felix took that as his cue to make himself heard. He cleared his throat, twisted his body just enough to get Ralph's hulking figure into his field of vision and yelled.

"Any minute now, brother! We did say that it would take a while, didn't we?" His cheerful bubbly voice piped up from the obnoxious sputtering noises of the engine as he gave them a small smile and a shrug.

Ralph rolled his eyes at his protagonist's optimism.

Suddenly, Calhoun raised her hand and pointed forward.

"There! Just up this hill!" She glanced back and looked at Vanellope. "Put it in park, kid! We're going on foot from here."

Vanellope shifted gears and then slowly applied pressure to the brakes, slowing to a stop at the base of another hill. Ralph and Vanellope looked upwards and gaped in awe at the significantly larger hill. It had to rise just over a hundred feet as far as Ralph could tell, its blocky structure making it almost pyramid-like.

Calhoun lowered her cruiser to the ground right next to Vanellope's kart. As soon as he was within a safe distance with the ground, Felix hopped off of his spot on the cruiser and landed lightly on his feet. Ralph crawled off of the kart carefully and Vanellope vaulted over the side and quickly made her way to Ralph. The cruiser retracted into its backpack mode and Calhoun hoisted it easily over her shoulder, her gaze now fixated on the top of the hill right before them.

Ralph followed her gaze and gulped. "So . . . so whatever it is we're looking for is up _there_?" He pointed to the very top of the hill. The sergeant simply nodded. "Well, not all the way up there, about three fourths of the way, I suppose," she corrected.

Ralph rolled his eyes. "Yeah, 'cuz that makes it _so_ much batter," he muttered under his breath. Felix came up to his side and patted his arm good-naturedly. "Ah don't be a sour puss, champ! This is right up your alley! Back to climbing tall . . . really tall . . . dangerously . . . tall . . . ah, things! It's not that bad." Ralph looked down to his friend.

"Well, at least in our game, I have the comfort of knowing that if I accidentally fall, I'll regenerate." Felix could only shrug in reply.

Vanellope suddenly clapped her hands and rubbed them together. "Man, and I though Sour Bill was a killjoy," she teased. "Come on! Last one up there is a rotten Brach's egg!" Before Ralph could protest, Vanellope shot forward like a rocket and began climbing the blocky hill. Because of her height, she had to force herself up onto the next level by placing her hands on the edge and swinging her legs over the top. She continued the same tiring pattern for five levels before Ralph gave a defeated sigh and walked over to her.

Despite the warning sirens that were going off in Ralph's mind that in turn made his stomach growl, he couldn't help but smirk at his friend and give a small chuckle as he watched her pull herself onto the next level like some sort of backwards slinky. He walked up a few more levels before picking her up by the hood of her sweatshirt and placed her on his shoulder. She leaned forward and was failing at trying to conceal how out of breath she truly was.

"You don't . . . have to . . . do this ya know. I was . . ." she swallowed and gasped, ". . . I was fine." Ralph laughed again and continued the ascent. "Whatever you say you little Gremlin. Just sit tight." She crossed her arms and pouted, not without the smallest hint of a smile on her face.

Ralph continued climbing but paused as the familiar _sproing sproing sproing_ made its way to his ears. Felix bounded up beside him, hopping joyfully with a kind smile as the 8-bit sound effect played on cue for each step. He winked at Ralph and continued up the hill, now already half way up to their destination.

Ralph could hear the clattering sound of Calhoun's armor behind him as she made her way up the hill at his pace. After what only seemed like a quick moment, Felix already made his way to the top and waved for Ralph to hurry.

Ralph sighed and kept going. His legs growing tired from the climb and small beads of sweat forming on the edge of his brow, he was thankful when he saw he only had four more levels to go.

Ralph reached the same level as Felix and he was greeted with a small wave before he placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward, but being careful as to not spill Vanellope off of his shoulder and sending her sprawling to the ground, taking in multiple breaths of air. Vanellope swatted the side of his head playfully. "See? Not so easy after all, is it?" She looked at him in a triumphant grin. He waved off her sarcastic remark and stood back up.

The sight in front of him almost made his heart plummet so far into his stomach, he was afraid it would be digested.

A moment later, Calhoun came onto the same level and patted Ralph's shoulder.

"Well, let's do it."

In front of Ralph was a large, semicircular, blocky opening in the side of the hill, the semicircle outlined by gray hard-looking cubes that were made to resemble rock. The opening led straight forward for a few paces, and then descended into nothing but darkness.

Ralph gulped and looked skeptically over his shoulder at Calhoun. "Uh . . . where, er . . . what is it that you found?" He asked hopefully, praying silently to himself that this cave was not what she had gotten his hopes up for. She scoffed at him, sending a sarcastic, hurt face in his direction. "What are you whining about? The game is called _Mine_craft. If we want to get out of here, maybe we should stop looking above ground, and start looking below it."

Vanellope let out a long high-pitched whistle that echoed through the dark tunnel before them. "Never let it be said that I would ever be a party pooper, but I'm with Stinkbrain on this one. This is _way_ too sketchy." She gave a small shudder and wrapped her hands around her arms. Calhoun rolled her eyes at the two of them.

"I would have thought you'd be the one with backbone here, Shortstack," she said amusedly while shaking her head. Vanellope huffed at her. "Well excuse me! I'm just thinking that if we go down there," she motioned to the cave with her thumb, "we're going to run into something that would love nothing more than to _delete_ us for good!"

In response, Calhoun held out her repeater rifle in front of her and gave her a reassuring nod. "You don't have to worry about that. With this baby and ol' Ham-Hands right here," Ralph gazed down at both of his hands sensitively, "we'll take out anybody who so much as thinks about looking in our direction. And besides, you're a tough kid, I don't want you to allow everything just walk all over you just because we're in a new game. If someone tries to delete you, you try to delete them right back, ya hear?"

Vanellope nodded shyly. "Are we clear?" Vanellope nodded again. "Are we _clear_?" Calhoun asked more firmly. Vanellope stood on both feet on Ralph's shoulder with both hands planted on her side. "Yes ma'am!"

"Good. Now, we are going into this cave without any more questions. Is that clear?" Ralph raised his finger. "But that . . . is a question you just," Calhoun barked at him abruptly. "_Is that clear_?!" Everyone stood at attention. "Yes ma'am!" They all cried in unison.

She nodded. "Good! Now you three are my official UA, and my TF, now follow your COA before any more of us goes AWOL. If I catch any more bellyaching, I'll slap you so hard across your face you won't be able to report back to HQ for an AAR for a full month! Now get moving! ASAP!"

They stared at her with confusion riddled faces. "Um, miss crazy sergeant lady?" Vanellope raised her hand sheepishly. "You mind translating that last part?"

She cocked her gun.

"Sure. It means get in there before I roll you down there like a bowling ball! Now _go, go, GO_!"

She waved frantically with her hand for Ralph to walk in the cave first. He held up his hands defensively as he walked over to the opening of the cave with Vanellope still sitting atop his shoulder.

The moment Ralph even stepped foot into the opening, he immediately felt a small breeze blow against him causing him to shudder and wrap his hands around his arms. Vanellope followed suit and cupped her hands over her mouth, blowing warmly into them.

Ralph took a few more staggering steps forward and entered the darkness, Calhoun and Felix trailing not too far behind.

The four of them were greeted with more darkness until a faint, dim, flickering light came into view not too far ahead. Ralph raised an eyebrow and continued forward. "What the-Yah!" Ralph was too busy looking at the strange flickering light, he failed to notice the sudden decrease in elevation right of him. He reeled back and regained his footing, bumping into Felix and Calhoun behind him.

"Hey! What gives, Wreck-It?" He looked behind him and saw the irritated expression planted on Calhoun's face. Ralph didn't respond. Instead, he looked directly in front of him, or rather, _below_ him, and let out a quick startled gasp.

"Stairs," he breathed.

Calhoun and Felix looked at the back of his head, both entirely convinced that he had gone insane. "Uh, what was that now?" Felix raised an eyebrow and took a cautious step forward, being sure to not accidentally bump into Ralph.

"Stairs," he repeated.

Felix leaned to the side to see beyond Ralph and he too gasped. "What in the world?"

Sprawled out beneath them was a downward slant. Much like the hills in the games' outside world, they were layered downward step by step. However, Ralph could tell that these steps were _artificially_ made. No other cave, even in a crazy game like this, would ever have a perfectly straight, downward descent with level walls on either side, barely wide enough for him to successfully fit through. But what really sent a chill up both his and Vanellope's spines was the fact that there were torches burning idly, hanging by some invisible force on the left wall, each of them spaced an even ten steps apart and continued going downward for as far as he could see.

Calhoun, who too had seen the stairs by standing on her tippy-toes and glancing over Ralph's shoulder, cocked her rifle and snarled, clearly coming to the same realization as Ralph had a few moments ago.

"Someone's been here," she growled.

Felix gulped. "Or someone is _still_ here."

Vanellope scooted closer to Ralph's head and fisted her hands into his hair. He patted her reassuringly. "Don't worry kid. Alright guys, let's go take a look at what's down here." Calhoun nodded and urged her husband further as Ralph took the first step down the long passage of stairs.

By the time the third torch passed by, Calhoun reached and plucked one off of the wall and held it up. "Might be useful for later, wouldn't you think?" Felix turned and nodded optimistically, but a hint of uncertainty and fear was still bubbling inside of his chest. Calhoun simply reached down and patted his hat covered head with a real smile on her face. Felix turned his back to her and continued downward.

Vanellope still kept a fair grip on Ralph's head as he took the next steps down. He looked to her and smiled weakly before peering downward again. He saw that they were barely a fourth of the way down from where they had started. "Man. How far down does this thing even-WHOA!"

Ralph stopped abruptly in midsentence and let out a quick, loud scream. His foot slipped from under him and his body leaned dangerously forward. Vanellope lost her grip on Ralph's head and was thrown forward by Ralph's sudden fall. She landed on a step significantly lower than where Ralph was and came to a quick halt, preventing herself from rolling down any further.

Ralph on the other hand was unable to do so.

His bulking mass and large frame carried his momentum forward, sending him rolling head over heels down the stairs like a perfectly rounded ball rolling down the smoothest hill imaginable, crying out in surprise and pain as he did so.

"Ow . . . Whoa . . . Geez . . . Son of a . . . AHA . . . OUCH!"

Vanellope's eyes widened as she saw her friend plummeting rapidly towards her. For a brief moment, she felt as if her arms and legs were planted with lead, unable to shift from her current dazed state.

She let out a quick gasp of alarm, turned away and ran down the stairs as quickly as she could. Ralph instantly rolled over the spot where she had been standing just a moment ago, falling and wailing uncontrollably.

Vanellope jumped and skipped every few steps to gain as much ground away from Ralph as possible. Every few times she landed she had to lean down and grasp the floor to push herself up and regain her balance. She panted heavily in fear and exhaustion as she continued her rapid descent away from her out of control friend.

Ralph winced and hissed in pain as he felt every time another part of his body came into contact with the sharp, hard corner of the stone steps. He could feel his stomach churning rapidly and his head grow weary from seeing the world spin around him so many times in a row. Each time she came into his field of vision, Vanellope was at least two more rows down from where he currently was, gasping desperately for breath as she forced her legs to carry her tiny body away from him and into the oncoming darkness.

Felix and Calhoun were hot on Ralph's tail. Calhoun had put away her rifle and darted past her husband down the stairs. Felix took out his hammer and bolted down as well, trying to keep up with his wife and friends. At the moment, he could do nothing but watch with fear and anguish as Ralph rolled and Tumbled down the steps, rapidly gaining ground on poor terrified Vanellope.

As soon as she realized that her legs refused to cooperate any further due to the burning sensation she felt deep within her leg and the sweat now successfully dripping down the side of her face, and seeing that she still had quite a ways to go before she reached the bottom of the stairs, Vanellope thought of an idea so crazy that she had absolutely no faith in it actually working.

She gulped and jumped forward, landing awkwardly on her feet about teen steps away from Ralph. She looked up to him and held her breath.

_Wait for it . . ._

_Wait for . . . it . . . _

_Now!_

Vanellope quickly dropped to her knees and curled up into a ball, tucking herself as deep into the corner of the stair as possible as Ralph bounced off of the step above her and went sailing overhead. He landed hard and continued rolling downward. Vanellope stood shakily to her feet, checking herself and dusting off her hoodie, both relieved that she had been crushed, but also worried for Ralph. She took off like a bolt of lightning down the steps once she had successfully caught her breath. Calhoun and Felix still running as fast as they could behind her.

Ralph continued rolling down the seemingly endless flight of stairs at maximum velocity, tumbling down so fast that he could no longer see his friends.

Then, with one last bound, he was tossed through the air again, but was mercifully met with flat, solid ground. He landed on his belly with his hands sprawled out to his sides and his feet still elevated on the last step. His head still spinning and the world tilting awkwardly out of balance, he closed his eyes and allowed his face to hit the floor, the sight of total blackness seemed to help calm his stomach, if only a little bit.

He hadn't closed his eyes for a full minute before a new sound reached his ears.

_TSTSTST TSTS TSTSTSTS_

His brow furrowed as the unfamiliar _tsking_ noise seemed to be getting closer.

He unwillingly opened his eyes and craned his neck upwards.

He was met with four glowing red, unkind eyes.

He yelped in fright and twisted his body into a sitting position, scooting back as far as he could until his back made contact with the bottom step.

The sound of Vanellope's shrill loud voice echoed behind him.

"Ralph! Stay there! We're coming!"

He paid her no mind, his gaze never shifted from the figure in front of him. Like the stairway, the large room had multiple torches hanging from the walls, giving the room light. Once he calmed down, he finally got a good look at what was in front of him.

If he were standing, it would not have been much taller than his knees. It was short and appeared to have two sections to it. A large, black cube in the back that was connected to a smaller cube in the front with some sort of midsection. In that midsection, four long, thin rectangular legs stuck out on both sides. Four, tiny red eyes were plainly visible on its face.

Ralph's voice was caught in his throat abruptly, then once he found it again, what came out of him was an ear-piercingly loud scream as he pointed at the creature in front of him.

"Sp-spider!"

Ever since his incident in Hero's Duty and the following events in Sugar Rush, Ralph had never really been too keen to insect creatures as he usually had.

He instinctively raised his fist overhead and slammed it down on top of the spider. Like the zombies and Creepers from before, it disappeared in a puff of smoke under Ralph's fist. He slammed his hand on the ground below with a deafening _CCRRAAACCCKKK_. He squinted his eyes and looked down to the point of impact. His fist had managed to leave a small crater in the ground with two tiny gray cubes floating in it.

"What the . . ." he muttered as he looked at the small hole. But his thought was cut off by another sound.

TSTSTS TSTSTSTS TSTSTS

Ralph's eyes widened and he looked to the left to see another blocky spider. He reeled back in fear against the stairs once again as a flurry of three bright lights flew over his head and made contact with the spider.

_BOOM, BLAM, BOOM_

The second spider dissipated into smoke as Calhoun came running down the steps just above Ralph with her repeater rifle pointed at the ready in front of her, Felix and Vanellope not too far behind. Ralph let out a breath of relief and peered up at his friends in relief.

"Oh, aha, thank goodness. I thought you'd never,"

"Look out!" Vanellope cut him off, pointing off in the distance to his right. "Insectoids at two o'clock!" Ralph turned and saw two more spiders making their way to him rapidly. Calhoun raised her rifle back up. "I've got 'em."

But before she could even pull the trigger, four, faint sounds emanated from the darkness.

_Tink_

_Tink_

_Tink_

_Tink_

The spiders hissed and were jerked backwards before they fell to the floor on their sides and disintegrated.

The four of them looked down at where they had seen the spiders. Ralph, Felix and Vanellope looked up to Calhoun who only shrugged. "Wasn't me," she confirmed.

The exact moment she said that, they each saw a quick shift in the shadows.

Calhoun raised her rifle once again and aimed it forward.

They all flinched once they saw the outline of what they recognized as a zombie from earlier. Before she could mercilessly spray it a mouth full of plasma rounds, Felix reached his gloved hand up to the barrel of her rifle and aimed it gently downward. "Tammy, wait," he said calmly.

The cubed head of the creature in front of them turned to face them fully and they gave it an awkward silent glance before it started walking/gliding across the ground to come up to them. This creature did not have the sickly green hue to it as the zombie did. Rather, it had regular tan arms with blue legs.

They silently stared at it for a few more antagonizing seconds.

Then what happened next made their hearts stop and their blood run cold. Their breaths each caught in their throats as the new creature in front of them . . . spoke.

"Hey there."


	10. Kat and the Endermen

"Hey there."

Ralph stayed in his current position with his back to the steps with Calhoun, a torch in one hand and her repeater in the other, Felix and Vanellope standing directly above them, eying down the new specimen before them with wide eyes and trembling heartbeats.

All of the creatures they have run into in this world seemed to only communicate through gargling noises and deep hisses, never once forming a distinguishable word . . . but _this_ one, standing right there in front of them with calm blue eyes and standing as tall as any other Creeper or skeleton, actually _spoke_ to them.

It took Ralph a few breathless seconds to determine where the voice had come from as he noticed beforehand that this new . . . thing had _no mouth_.

No pixelated horizontal line was present on its face to represent anything close to a mouth. Rather, it only had two parallel blue lines that made up the eyes.

When none of them responded, the voice spoke up once more.

"Um . . . did you hear me?"

Again, no mouth opened.

The voice, clearly a young feminine one that sounded like it belonged to a young preteen girl, appeared from nowhere without any point of origin, as if it just formed from nothingness and made its presence known through the body of the new creature standing in front of them.

It took Ralph another moment longer that the voice, even though coming from nowhere and everywhere at the exact same time, actually belonged to the creature before them.

And that meant that this creature wasn't a creature.

It was a _she_. That young feminine voice belonged to the girl in front of them.

She had tan skin and brown hair that seemed to reach down to her shoulders, and a blue bow, composed of three small blue cubes, was sitting safely on the top of her square head. Her shirt was striped with a dark blue and light blue pattern, wore blue jeans and brown boots rested on her feet. Resting at the end of her rectangular arm was a small object that appeared to be in the shape of a D which Ralph quickly realized must've been the bow that fired the arrows at the small horde of spiders coming his way.

The blocky head rotated from side to side, like she was studying them as if they were the most fascinating archeological discovery ever found.

For another minute, the cave was filled with awkward, weighted silence. The girl's voice appeared once again.

"Uh, hello? Come in, Tokyo. Don't just sit there. Say something!" They each blinked in unison.

Before anyone could speak, the girl cut them off. "And how did you find me anyways?" Her head peered over the shoulder of Calhoun and she looked at the lit up hallway behind her. "Oh, that line of flaming torches must've given it away, huh? It's a neat trick isn't it? My best friend Lexis taught me that." More silence. "Seriously guys, I feel like I'm talking to a wall here. Wanna speak up?"

Vanellope reached down and tapped Ralph on the head. "Uh, what in the name of pop tarts is this chick talking about?" Her small, shrill voice woke Ralph from his dazed stupor. He shook his head and rose to his feet, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Uh . . . er . . . hi, miss? My name's Ralph, uh, Wreck-It Ralph," he extended his hand out to her. The new girl in front of him showed no sign of even noticing the open palm. Instead, she continued to stare straight at them. Calhoun smacked the back of her hand on Ralph's shoulder. "Wreck-It, what are you _doing_?" She hissed under her breath. Ralph looked over his shoulder and met her irritated gaze.

"What do you think? I'm trying to communicate." His hand never once wavering from its outstretched position in front of her, he turned to face her once again with his awkward toothy smile. Once he knew that she was never going to accept his handshake, he lowered it back down to his side and rubbed the back of his neck with his other.

He cleared his throat again. "Say, miss? Do, uh, do you know how to get out of here? Me and my friends here are sorta lost. See, there was this blue thing and, well, it's a long story, but we each kind of, er, fell in and we ended up here," he gestured around him. "I don't know if the same thing happened to you, but, um, you wouldn't happen to know of any way out, do you?"

Calhoun smacked her open palm against her forehead as Ralph finished his rambling.

After another, albeit shorter moment of silence, the girl spoke again.

"Oh, you guys must not have a microphone hooked up. That's why I can't hear you, right?"

Ralph flinched backward at the surreal comment and he squinted his eyes questioningly at her. Calhoun, Felix and Vanellope let out little breaths of confusion as well. "Wha, what are you, you didn't just hear me? How could you not," he was cut off by the girl once again.

"I don't have time for this. I've got lots to do while I'm here with very little battery life left. Those Endermen have to be around here somewhere. I'll catch you guys later." Without another word, the blocky character turned her back to them and began walking away into the dimness of the cave.

Ralph turned to his friends. "How, how in the world could she not hear me? I was looking and talking right at her! How could," Felix raised his voice. "Well, don't you remember? We're inside of an online game." Ralph narrowed his brow and looked at Felix with a slight pang of frustration. "Well, yeah! Of course I do! What does that have to do with," Felix raised one gloved hand to cut him off.

"Well, since she doesn't resemble any of the monsters we've come into contact with, nor does she look anything like the creatures on the guide, she must be playing the game." Ralph squinted his eyebrow in confusion. "You know, she's playing Minecraft from her own stationary computer!" Ralph's eyes ignited with a brief spark of understanding and he let out a long, thoughtful breath.

"Oh, so you mean what's-her-face over there is playing the game, kinda like how we are right now?" Vanellope questioned. Felix nodded in reply. "But I'm afraid I haven't the slightest clue on what it was she was going on about, what with battery life and Endermen . . ."

Before he could take out the touch screen guide to look up the new and unfamiliar terms, Calhoun drew in a sharp breath so quickly she startled the rest of the group. Her gaze was set solidly on the spot where the girl had just been standing and into the darkness in front of them where she had disappeared into a few minutes ago. She drew in another slow breath through her nostrils and out her mouth.

"We have to find her."

Before anyone else could so much as look at her, she had already leapt off of the bottom step like a lion pouncing on its prey and set off in a brisk walk forward. Felix stared at his wife with wide, confused eyes.

"Tammy! Honey, what are you doing?" She stopped and looked over her shoulder at the three of them gaping up at her in almost sheer stupidity. "Isn't it obvious? We've gotta find her again." Felix stepped off of the bottom step, glanced worriedly up at Ralph, then back to his wife. "Uh, cherry blossom, I'm not sure that-"

"Felix, just think about it for a moment. _Everyone_ think about it," she pointed directly at the three of them. "We haven't the slightest clue about this world: what's in it, _who's_ in it, how it works, we don't know jack. But _she_ does." She pointed one thumb behind her in the direction where the girl had been. The others continued bombarding her with dumbfounded glances and stares.

"What, are all of you thick? She can help us! If there's a way out of this cubed nightmare, any way at all, she may know where it is." Her tone was dead serious and her face was plastered with a no-nonsense stare.

The air was filled with awkward silence once more for a full minute until Vanellope finally broke it. "But how is she supposed to help us if she can't even _hear_ us? What are we supposed to do? Use sign language?" A thought then popped into Ralph's head. "Yeah, why couldn't she hear me anyways? I didn't mumble, did I?"

Felix smiled and shook his head. "It wasn't anything you did, brother. It wasn't anything _any_ of us did. Because we're from someplace foreign and new, we don't have any means of communication." Ralph nodded slowly. "I remember her saying something about a microphone. Maybe that's how the players, you know, talk to each other while they're playing."

Felix beamed up at Ralph. "That's a very good observation, partner. Without access to something to project our voices, I'm afraid there is simply no way to talk to her."

Vanellope sighed. "Well, then how are we supposed to- you know what? Never mind. This is a stupid idea anyway!" Calhoun stared down at the impatient child. "Oh yeah, have you got a better idea, princess?"

Vanellope was about to reply, but the words were lost before she could even form them. She sighed and looked down at the ground. Calhoun snorted. "That's what I thought. Now come on. Let's go find this girl."

Knowing it would be fruitless to argue with his wife any further, Felix sighed dejectedly and trudged over to her side. He looked back to Ralph and Vanellope. "Come on fellas. Let's go find her." Ralph sighed and followed suit, leaving Vanellope alone on the bottom step. The three of them shot her a quick backwards glance before she too sighed and stepped down and made her way to Ralph's side. "I still think this is a bad idea."

Calhoun snorted and looked down to the child. "No one said it was a good idea to begin with, short stuff. But it's the best shot we have at this point. Now let's get moving."

Without another word of protest from the group, Calhoun turned to face the darkness in front of her, took one step forward . . . and let out a short, loud yelp of surprise.

"Tammy! Tammy! What happened?"

It took the sergeant a few staggering moments to fully catch her breath and look calmly down to her husband's worry-filled eyes. "It's alright sweetie. I'm fine," she assured. It took a few more moments to convince Felix that she was indeed unharmed, and when she did, she looked down to see what exactly it was that made her lose her footing.

Right below her foot was another series of steps, albeit a much shorter flight of steps which led to the beginning of a narrow, rail-less bridge (well, narrow for Ralph's standards). The bridge was about six cubes in width and stretched almost a hundred feet forward, connected to the other side of a chasm. A deep . . . wide . . . dark . . . _very_ dark chasm.

Ralph gulped.

"Just skipped a step. Happens to everyone, right?" She gave Ralph a well-intentioned stink eye.

She raised the torch higher and walked down the steps followed closely by Felix and Vanellope. Ralph blinked and tried to slow his rapidly beating heart to its normal pace. He shook his head lightly and carefully started down the steps.

Calhoun and Felix made it to the bottom and Vanellope stopped just a few steps down, looking up at Ralph with an impatient glare. "C'mon slowpoke! Move your molasses!" Her loud, shrill voice echoed almost deafeningly off of the cavernous walls, making Ralph grasp his ears tightly and clamp his eyes shut. Calhoun and Felix started lightly on the bridge and turned frantically back to Vanellope.

"Kid, _quiet down_!" Calhoun practically hissed. "You wanna attract even more unwanted attention?" As Ralph clumsily made his way down the steps, Vanellope looked back to the sergeant and gave her a confused shrug. "What? I thought you guys said that the players can't hear us."

"The players may not be able to hear us, but the creatures in here can," Felix corrected.

Vanellope nodded in slight understanding then stepped onto the stone bridge right behind Felix, who in turn was behind Calhoun. Vanellope froze and darted her head left and right, allowing the vastness of the cave compared to her severely small body sink in.

"Wow," she breathed. With curiosity swimming all around inside of her, she cautiously took two steps forward, dropped to her hands and knees and peeked her head over the edge of the cliff, gazing downward into the seemingly endless hole.

"Hey Ralphie, you gotta see this! We've gotta be like a kagillion feet in the- Ralph?"

She turned her head to the side expecting to see her friend standing right behind her, but then saw that he had not even stepped one foot on the bridge. He had his hands folded in front of him and was rocking on the balls of his feet nervously.

Vanellope rose to her feet and looked confusedly at Ralph. Before she could call over to him, Felix's bubbly voice interrupted her.

"Ralph? You comin' brother?"

Ralph jerked his head over to look at Felix and gave a shy, unconvincing smile.

"Huh? Oh, ah, nah. You guys go on ahead. I'll, ah, I'll just stay behind and guard the, ah, _stairs_! Yeah, that's right. The stairs. These stairs look like they need some guarding, don't they?" He nervously clapped his hands and rubbed them together quickly. "You three go find her. I'll just wait here and- Whoa!"

Before he could finish his petty excuse, Vanellope vanished in a frenzy of blue 1's and 0's, then reappeared almost instantly two feet in front of him with her hands planted on her hips and tapping her foot impatiently on the ground, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout-like manner.

"Alright, what's the hold up?" She asked sternly.

Ralph quickly waved off her question with a raspberry and a dismissive wave.

"What? No-nothing's the hold up. No sir. Nothing's holdin' up here."

Vanellope eyed him skeptically before turning to glance back at the bridge then back to Ralph, a thought appearing to have quickly formed in her head.

"Oh Ralphie," she said in a teasing sing-song voice. "What? You're not afraid of heights are you?" She teased, seeing the uneasy look on his face as he eyed the precariously built and positioned bridge.

He shot her an annoyed glance. "Me? Afraid of- kid, I climb and eighteen story skyscraper only to get thrown off of it on a daily basis. Believe me, heights are at the bottom of that list."

"Well, what're you getting so worked up over then?"

In response, Ralph gestured to his bulking body then to the bridge in front of them which Calhoun and Felix have already made half way across by that point. It was then that Vanellope realized why her large friend was so hesitant to step foot on the bridge. His fist alone was at least two times bigger than one of those cubes. Sure, the bridge was more than strong enough to support the combined weight of Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun, but Ralph on the other hand . . .

"Oooooooh." Ralph nodded, pleased that she was finally able to understand his uneasiness.

Vanellope glanced back at Felix and Calhoun and then looking back down to the stone bridge.

She shrugged. "Well, hey, if it's strong enough to support the full weight of Sergeant Trigger Happy and her full body armor over there, it should be strong enough to hold you too."

"I don't know kid," Ralph said, still unconvinced. "I'm pretty sure that I still outweigh her even when she is wearing that suit."

Vanellope growled in frustration.

"Here, watch." To demonstrate her point, Vanellope marched five paces forward on the bridge, turned to face Ralph with a blank expression, then jumped up and down, being sure to stomp her tiny feet on the ground beneath her as hard and strongly as she could. Ralph winced worriedly and held his hand out in front of him as if trying to pull Vanellope into his grasp without even stepping foot on the bridge.

"_Vanellope_! What're you- _stoppit_!"

A smirk grew on her face as she continued to stomp haphazardly on the bridge with as much force as her tiny body could muster. The bridge didn't even shift under her feet.

"See? . . . It's . . . fine . . . now c'mon . . . you big . . . baby," she taunted in between breaths, not even pausing from her stomping spree.

Calhoun and Felix, who have made it all the way across the bridge at this point, turned and eyed the bouncing child suspiciously. Felix cocked one eyebrow in his wife's direction and she shrugged in reply.

"Ok! Ok! You made your point. Just, _stop doing that_!" Vanellope stopped with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath after her demonstration/tantrum. Once her breath caught up with her, she stood straight with her fists planted on her hips and a triumphant smile on her face.

"See? What'd I tell ya? It's perfectly safe! Now let's go before we,"

TSTSTS TS TSTS TS

Vanellope stopped in midsentence and her eyes widened in what Ralph could plainly see was absolute horror. A chill ran up his spine as he forced himself to turn around and find where the sound came from . . . even though he already knew exactly what it was.

His breath was instantly trapped in his throat the moment he laid eyes on four spiders as big as his fist. The four, evil black cubes were quickly descending down the short flight of steps in their direction.

Ralph froze. Each of his muscles tensing, not allowing him to take one step backwards. His chest seemed to have the same idea, considering he couldn't find his voice for the life of him.

Ralph thought he heard a muffled, shrill yell from behind him, but his attention seemed to be forever glued to the small army of spiders in front of him. It took him a moment longer to figure out that the muffled yelling was coming from Vanellope. He had simply been too horrified and perplexed by the situation before him, all sound and even time itself seem to stop right in its tracks.

Once his head was finally clear, he could feel Vanellope's tiny hands grip around Ralph's thumb, trying her best to snap him out of his dazed state.

"Ralph you big lummox! Come on! We gotta go!"

Ralph glanced down at Vanellope, still digging her heels into the ground with her hands locked in a vice-like grip around his thumb and leaning backwards with all of her might. He risked one more glance back at the spiders, only to see that they were gaining speed down the steps and rapidly approaching his position.

Without the slightest hint of hesitation or thought, Ralph scooped up Vanellope into his arm and held her tightly to his body as he took off like a rocket down the bridge. Vanellope glanced up at him with wide eyes to see his gaze was fixed straight ahead of him in unwavering determination.

_THUM THUM THUM_

The ground beneath his feet was pounding under his massive footsteps a little too loudly for his liking, sending a tiny system of cracks spider-webbing their way across the surface, but he paid little to no mind toward that as he made a direct beeline for Felix and Calhoun, the former of which was waving his arms frantically at them with a look of pure dread on his face and the latter aiming her repeater rifle directly in front of her with her finger hovering cautiously over the trigger.

TSTSTSTS TSTS

Ralph could hear the hissing and ticking noises of the spiders rapidly approaching. Vanellope, growing rapidly impatient with the speed they were running at, grasped Ralph's overalls tightly and closed her eyes, concentrating on the current position of Felix and Calhoun.

Ralph felt his hairs standing on end and a sudden jolt of static electricity passing between him and her. Before he could protest, Vanellope glitched themselves the last remaining twenty-five feet forward, making Ralph lose his footing and tumble forward.

Ralph let out a cry of alarm as he instinctively tossed Vanellope forward to avoid crushing her under his enormous weight. She sailed through the air for a short moment before she came crashing into Felix's awaiting, outstretched arms. He stumbled backwards a few steps before regaining his balance with a startled and wide-eyed Vanellope still in his grasp. They both let out a quick cry of alarm as they saw Ralph land face first and skidding the remaining few feet on his belly. Felix sidestepped to the left to avoid being plowed down by his friend.

He came to a stop with his face down and appearing relatively motionless. If Felix or Vanellope hadn't known any better, they would have thought he was struck in the head and was currently lying on the ground in an unconscious rest.

Once his body slowed to a stop, Calhoun wasted no time to raise her rifle and gun down the oncoming insects.

_BOOM, BOOM, SPLAT, BLAM_

The spiders instantly disappeared in the usual puff of smoke or went toppling over the edge of the bridge and vanished in the blackness.

After a few silent filled moments, Ralph let out a painful moan as he pushed himself back onto his feet. Felix's eyes were glued to where the spiders had previously been with his mouth agape. He was so hypnotized for whatever reason by what had just happened, he didn't even notice Vanellope's irritated scowl almost drill a hole in his face.

"What am I, a baby doll? Put me down!"

Felix darted his eyes down at Vanellope, still held tightly in his arms. "Oh! Oh, sorry."

He lowered her to the ground nervously and cleared his throat. Immediately after her feet made contact with the ground, she darted over to Ralph's side and shot him an identical scowl. "And _you_." Ralph glanced confusedly down at her. "Don't give me that look you big baby! If it hadn't been for me, you'd have let those spiders pounce on you like a-"

Before she could finish her rant, a familiar yell was heard.

"Whoa!"

Ralph, Felix, Vanellope and Calhoun quickly turned around to find . . . a cliff.

Without thinking, the four of them bolted in the direction the scream came from, and slid to a stop right on the edge of the cliff. And at the bottom was . . .

"It's her!" Vanellope cried out.

Indeed, at the bottom was a familiar light and dark blue pattern with blue legs and a pixelated bow armed in one hand. And swarming all around her were new creatures, and possibly the most unusual and scary ones they have seen.

Ralph then realized that the cliff they were on the top of wasn't a cliff per se. It was more of an amphitheater.

A large, very large oval was cut into the ground with multiple rows of steps leading down about fifty feet to a flat plain that almost resembled a battle arena.

And at the moment, it did.

Because at the bottom, the person in question was facing off against tall, black creatures that floated, not glide or slide along the ground, actual floating creatures that were too far away to even clearly distinguish as a living creature.

The girl was darting left and right, firing arrows at each of the black monsters as fast as she could. Every once in a while when they hit their target, the black creatures would fall to the ground and disappear, but they left tiny, round, teal objects in their place which the girl seemed to find a certain value in because the moment she laid eyes on even one of them, she would immediately walk over and collect it.

The gang took notice in how exactly she was 'collecting' them however.

As soon as she got close enough to them, they seemed to levitate for a few moments before flying toward her body, dissolving and disappearing inside of her.

They watched her fight off about three more monsters for a few more moments before Vanellope broke the silence.

"Hey, what's that thing on top of her head?"

Everyone's eyes were instantly directed to where Vanellope had mentioned and they almost started in surprise.

"Was . . . was that always there?" Ralph asked, feeling incredibly silly for having missed it in their previous encounter.

Hovering just inches above her head was a black bar with white text in the middle. They were elevated a good amount above her, but Felix could just make out what it said.

_Kat753_

"What in the, what the heck does that mean?" Ralph asked.

Felix cleared his throat. "Well, do you remember when I said that in online gaming, people chose their own username?" Vanellope and Ralph nodded. "Well, that must be hers," he said as-a-matter-of-factly, gesturing to the girl below them.

Ralph nodded in understanding. "So, that must be her ID, so that other people can recognize her."

Vanellope looked down at the small battle below her for a few moments before furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Wait a minute, if she has one of those username ID thingies, then why don't we?"

"It's like what Felix said earlier, short stack," Calhoun said. "We're not from here. We don't get certain things normal players would get." Vanellope shook her head. "But that sign called us Litwakrouter950501. So shouldn't we get one of those ID's too?"

Calhoun shrugged the question away. "What do you want from me kid? I don't have all the answers! Now come on."

Ralph looked over to Calhoun. "Um, come on where?"

She snorted. "We want her help? We help her first," she simply stated with one thumb pointing in her direction.

Before anyone could protest, Calhoun took out her repeater rifle and bolted down the cubed steps to the makeshift arena.

"Tammy! Wait!" Her husband's plea fell upon deaf ears as she made her way down to the bottom and stormed toward the fight.

Ralph panicked. Without thinking, he too bolted down the steps, following Calhoun with gasping breaths. He didn't even pay Vanellope or Felix any mind as he heard them calling him in protest. He quickly and carefully made his way to the bottom to see Calhoun firing her rifle like a madwoman. A very well-trained madwoman at that.

It wasn't until he had reached the bottom that Ralph had gotten a good look at what exactly these creatures looked like.

His eyes widened in shock.

_Meanwhile_,

"Ralph! What are you doing? Wait!" But Vanellope's cries of protest did nothing to slow him down.

Before she could speed glitch after him, she was interrupted by the familiar blinking noise coming from Felix's tool belt.

_Bing Bing_

_Bing Bing_

Felix quickly took out the rolled up guide from a loop in his belt and unfurled it.

"Ah, it seems you've run into another enemy," Felix read. "Endermen are very unforgiving creatures and extremely easy to provoke. Whatever you do, and I mean _anything_, do not make eye contact with them."

He furled the touch screen guide into a tube and placed it back into his tool belt. Vanellope looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes.

"Wh-why can't they make eye contact with those things?"

_At the same time_,

Ralph stayed rooted in the same spot for what felt like a small eternity, watching Calhoun shoot the floating black things alongside Kat753 (who either hasn't bothered to acknowledge their presence or didn't even notice them at the time being).

It didn't take Ralph long to determine that these new black creatures were by far the most surreal monsters they've seen during their short time in Minecraft. As far as he could tell, they made the same gurgling sounds the zombies had made. They were tall, almost as tall as he was with long, lanky arms and legs and had startling piercingly white eyes that almost seemed to stare straight into his very code whenever he caught a glimpse of one.

Then one looked back at him and stopped dead in its tracks.

Ralph flinched and a chill rode up his spine.

The creature stood in place for a few more antagonizing moments before it started to float over to his position.

Ralph held up his hands defensively and backed up. "Whoa, whoa there bud! Hold on!" Either the creature didn't hear him or it just ignored his pitiful pleas and continued in its path until . . .

_Tink_

The black creature fell forward on its face and disappeared the second after Ralph saw the arrow sticking out of its back.

He looked down at where it had been then back up to see Kat753 standing ten feet in front of him.

"What the? You again?" Once again, the voice seemed to come out of nowhere. Her head craned to the left to see Calhoun finishing off the last of the floating monsters, then up to see Felix and Vanellope standing at the top of the amphitheater. "All of you? Why did you-where did you-how?" She stammered on for a few moments as if in a state of disbelief.

Once she was done, her gaze shifted from Ralph to the spot where the monster had vanished. He followed her line of sight and squinted his eyebrows at something he could've sworn wasn't there before.

"Don't take it! It's mine!" Ralph flinched back as Kat753 quickly closed the gap between them with her eyes glued to the teal, round object identical to the one they had seen from earlier. And just like before, the circle vanished inside of her body with a quiet _pop_ sound, as if she had somehow attracted it to her like a magnet.

Once she had collected it, she turned her back to Ralph and made her way to Calhoun's position, who had her arms crossed over her chest with about four of those teal circles lying at her feet. Kat753 stopped in her tracks and looked Calhoun up and down. "Y-you, did you get those? For me?"

Seeing as how pointless it would be to say yes, Calhoun simply nodded. Kat753 gave her one last skeptical glance before attracting the remaining circles. Once she had collected the rest, she turned back to face Ralph, then to the side to see Felix and Vanellope slowly making their way down the side of the amphitheater and approaching the three of them. Once they made their way to Ralph's side, her voice could be heard trembling over itself.

"I-I don't understand. You follow me down here, help me kill those Endermen, then let me take the Ender Pearls? I don't get it. Why would you," Before she could finish her question, more gurgling noises could be heard coming from the distance.

"Never mind. I got what I needed. If you still want to follow me, then whatever. We won't last long down here. Come on. Let's go."

She broke away from the group and walked briskly to the base of the amphitheater and began climbing up. Once she made it up about seven steps, she looked back to the others.

"Well, you coming or not? I'm leaving with or without you guys."

Ralph could hear Calhoun laughing lightly to herself.

"What did I tell you guys? We scratch her back, she scratches ours. Now come on. We're one step closer to getting out of this nightmare."


	11. Hide and Go Wreck-It

"So, where are you guys from again?"

Ralph raised one finger to foolishly answer when he was cut off by her voice.

"Oh, wait, forgot. No microphones. Right, sorry. Heh."

Ralph lowered his hand back down to his side and sighed as he and the others continued following Kat753. The group had made it to the top of the amphitheater and were now halfway across the stone bridge (which took only a quick angry glance from Vanellope to fully motivate Ralph to even step foot on it again). Kat753 lead the way with Calhoun and Felix trailing not too far behind her and Ralph walking cautiously behind Vanellope.

Much to Ralph's relief, they reached the other side of the bridge quicker than he expected. As soon as Ralph stepped foot off of the bridge, the girl spoke again, sounding rather hesitant and almost forced. "So . . . I uh . . . don't usually work with other people in Minecraft. They usually slow me down, wander away or just run off and destroy my buildings, you know? So annoying."

Ralph, Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun each shot confused and questioning glances to one another.

"And in all honesty, I don't even know why I'm teaming up with you guys. That person dressed in black seemed helpful, and I guess you followed me down here for a reason. But if you destroy anything of mine, kill me and take my stuff, or just annoy me, I'm booting you. Got it?" Ralph, Vanellope and Felix gulped almost in perfect unison. The group nodded quickly, not wanting to know what it was like to be 'booted' from this place.

"Alright. Thank you. Now, as you can probably tell from my username, my name is Kat. Since we appear to be working together now, I guess an introduction is in order." She let out a sigh.

"Ok, now that I've established some ground rules, we've got to get back to my place. I've got enough eyes and rods to enter the Nether World and I've only got my one crafting table back at my house. Now I warn you, it's a long, long way away. So feel free to drop out at any time, I really don't care."

"Oh don't worry about us, Missy. We're not going anywhere," Vanellope said. Ralph raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Why are you talking to her? You know she can't hear you." Vanellope looked up to Ralph and shrugged. "I dunno, it's just nice to talk to something else besides a walking brick wall," she gestured to him teasingly.

Ralph only sighed and rolled his eyes.

Before they reached the base of the long flight of stairs, they all heard a familiar hissing sound.

TSTS

Ralph's eyes shot wide open as a spider seemingly materialized itself out of the shadows and leapt straight for Kat. Ralph, Felix and Vanellope drew in sharp, quick breaths as Calhoun reflexively reached for her rifle and aimed it at the spider. The large black arachnid launched itself again and again at her body. Each time it made contact, it pushed her back a few feet and her body blinked dark red.

"Kat!" Vanellope cried out, forcedly trying to restrain herself from running straight at the spider.

Calhoun held her finger cautiously over the trigger, aiming the barrel straight at the two of them. She adjusted and moved her gun, but couldn't manage to find a good shot without harming Kat. "Come on! Get out of the way, Girlie!"

Kat's voice let out multiple struggling sounds as she swatted her arm at the spider, pushing it back and out of reach. Calhoun took advantage and fired multiple rounds at the spider. It fell lifelessly to the ground and vanished in the usual puff of smoke. Everyone's eyes then darted over to Kat, who seemed to be breathing heavily. Her head turned over to Calhoun. "Thanks." Calhoun nodded and lowered her rifle.

Before they could begin walking over to the base of the stairs again, Kat let out several mumbling noises, talking quietly to herself. Everyone eyed her in confusion. "Alright, let's see. Come on, come on, I've gotta have a piece somewhere . . . yes!"

A soft clicking sound was heard, and almost immediately afterward, a small object magically appeared in her hand. It had a brown round top with a thin, stick-like white bottom that Ralph assumed was supposed to resemble a chicken leg.

Vanellope blinked in surprise. "Uh, where in holy hot pockets did she get that?" Ralph shrugged, never once taking his eyes off of Kat.

She raised the strange food up to where her mouth was supposed to be and several munching noises were heard. Tiny brown cubes fell from her face as she continued to eat the piece of chicken that seemed to come out of nowhere. As she chomped away at it, a flickering light appeared over her head.

Ralph diverted his attention to the top of her head to see a horizontal line of ten tiny hearts hovering just under her username. Of those ten, only three were fully red, leaving seven un-colored and transparent. As she finished the piece of chicken, five hollow hearts blinked white a few times before they were replaced with their (supposedly usual) full red color, leaving only two out of the ten un-colored. The chicken disappeared and she returned her attention to Ralph and the others who still haven't been able to fully understand how in the world she had did that.

"Man, did you guys see that spider coming? I didn't. That's why I hate coming underground. It seems like there are so many other things in here that can kill you. Not to mention the never-ending fall if you mine too far down or the river of lava somewhere around here." Ralph's heart, along with his spirits plummeted even further at the mere mention of a river of lava and never-ending drops.

"Well," she continued, "I suppose we should get outa here before-"

She stopped.

Ralph and the others squinted their eyebrows in confusion as she remained almost deathly silent for a full fifteen seconds just staring blankly before speaking again. "No way," she breathed. Ralph, Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun twisted and turned their heads in every direction, looking at each other and around them to see if something was wrong. They all shrugged and looked back to Kat, who walked closer to them, almost as if to observe them.

Her eyes fell onto Felix.

"Are-are you Fix-It Felix?!"

Everyone's eyes darted to Felix immediately to see him let out a breath of surprise at the mention of his name. Kat continued. "You are! Oh my, you-you look just like him! You've gotta tell me where you got that skin from."

Felix was awestruck, his heart was trapped in his throat and beating rapidly as a massive wave of heat unexpectedly washed over his face. After a few more moments of her rambling to herself, she stopped in the middle of her sentence and eyed Ralph.

"No . . . WAY!"

Her voice let out a shrill shriek that pierced Ralph's ears like a knife. "And you're, you're the bad guy! The wrecking guy! That-that person who wrecks the-omigoshomigoshomigosh!" She left Ralph's side (who too was frozen in amazement and the smallest hint of anxiousness) and almost sprinted over to Calhoun.

"I can't believe I never noticed this before! Aren't you supposed to be the captain soldier lady from Hero's Duty?" Vanellope snickered quietly to herself, not being able to keep a straight, serious face at the mention of Calhoun's game.

Calhoun eyed Kat up and down cautiously before nodding slowly. She cried out in glee once again, going on and on about how much she loves their games. Ralph took the opportunity to talk to Felix and Calhoun as Kat continued her senseless ramblings.

"How in the name of the Sega Genesis does she know us?" Calhoun shrugged. "Your guess is as good as any of ours, Wreck-It. Felix honey, can you make anything of this?" Felix thoughtfully scratched his chin as Kat quickly moved from Calhoun to Vanellope, now freaking out about how she recognizes her from Sugar Rush.

"Well . . ." Felix trailed off. "She did mention something called 'skins'. Maybe that's what they refer to as the look of the avatars." Calhoun looked from her husband to Kat, who was still in Vanellope's face and rambling on, causing Vanellope to take a few steps back to regain her personal space. "You mean like how she looks right now? That's her skin?" Felix nodded. "Yes. In fact, _that_," she gestured to Kat, who backed up and was now looking at all of them, never once stopping her excited rant, "that must be how she sees _us_," Felix finished.

Ralph looked down to Felix questioningly. "You mean to her, we just look like a bunch of walking rectangles? Just like she is?" Felix nodded. "That's what I think." Ralph glanced down to see Vanellope eyeing him with a pleased smirk on her face.

"That may not be a bad thing. _Some_ of us could benefit from a little weight loss." She poked her thumb teasingly in Ralph's direction. Ralph glared at her unappreciatively.

"Well this is all fine and dandy, but none of this answers how she even knows about our games in the first place," Calhoun pointed out. Before Felix could reply, Kat started to calm down and breathe slowly.

"So I guess this means go to Litwak's too, huh?" Their eyes almost bugged right out of their sockets.

"Yeah. I'm actually not too far from there. I go there like every other day!" There was another moment of silence.

"Ok, here's the deal," she said simply, "you guys can come along with me if you send me the link to get those skins. Deal?" Without almost a moment's hesitation, the four of them nodded.

If her face wasn't just a few lines and dots, she would've worn the brightest, almost exhilarated expression anyone could have. "Yes! Thank you so much! Alright, let's get moving."

_Meanwhile_,

"Hello? Yoohoo! You guys out there? Olly olly oxen free!"

Gloyd rolled his eyes. "Candlehead, for the millionth time, we're not playing hide and seek. We're looking for the president and her friend! Good gobstoppers, how long will it be until you realize that?" Candlehead turned to Gloyd. "Realize what?" Gloyd sighed and rubbed his temples. "Never mind. Just keep doing what you're doing."

Candlehead nodded and continued calling aimlessly.

Gene winced at the loud volume her young, shrill voice was reaching within his eardrums, but continued their seemingly useless search. He turned to look at Rancis behind him with his hands pressed against his ears. "She's not exactly the wisest, is she?"

Rancis shook his head. "Nope. But she grows on you after a while. Besides, it's in her code to act like that."

Gene rolled his eyes and kept walking. Mary shook her head pitifully in Candlehead's direction. "Poor dearie." Taffyta trudged past her and Deanna with clenched fists and an irritated scowl written on her face, mumbling angrily and indistinguishably under her breath.

"Stupid president and her stupid friend . . . making me waste my afternoon . . . pay for this . . ."

Mary, Deanna and Don eyed her in curiosity and disbelief. When they agreed to come with Gene and help search for Ralph in a game primarily made up of sweets, snacks and pretty much all things edible, they never would have thought that the inhabitants, Taffyta in particular, could be so sour. Ever since the search began, she's done nothing but complain, nag and was just plain rude. The three of them glanced at one another worriedly before following the others.

"Sweet merciful coding, how many of these trees are there?!"

Gene spun on his heels to get a good look at his surroundings. And all he could see was row after row of tall trees made out of candy canes. The racers looked at Gene with combined expressions of amusement and annoyance as he felt the need to rant on about their home game.

"This is so tedious! It's just one candy tree after another! And what's worse, their made out of candy canes! I hate candy canes! The peppermint scent from this place is so overwhelming it's giving me a migraine! Bah, and even the ground itself is like walking through a hallway of those sticky fly catchers. How can you kids even stand living in a place like this? Everywhere I look I just see more and more candy. Each time I turn my head I can feel my arteries getting clogged by the minute. I swear, the sooner we find Ralph and Felix the better."

Taffyta's anger has far since eclipsed its breaking point since the arcade closed. Having some stranger come into her game and complain about it wasn't exactly helping.

"Shut up! Sweet tarts and sprinkles, do you ever not complain?" Gene turned to face her with a scowl to return her own. "And you're one to talk, Swiss Miss. You've done nothing but bicker and whine ever since we started!" Taffyta narrowed her eyes and marched angrily toward Gene. "And you haven't? All I ever hear from you is just 'it's too bright,' or, 'there's too much candy here,'" She said in a voice which crudely mimicked his own. "Well what did you expect? It's called Sugar Rush for crying out loud!"

Gene straightened his suit and stood on his toes to reach her eyelevel. "Well maybe if you would just-"

"Enough! Both of you, enough!"

Gene and Taffyta stopped arguing to see Rancis breathing heavily and an expression of rage that has never been worn by him before.

"Look, I get it! We're all scared about what's going to happen to us, but yelling and screaming at one another isn't going to get us any closer to finding them! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to find our president. If you two want to fight some more, be my guest, just don't do it around me! Gloyd, Candlehead, um, other small people, let's go."

Everyone's jaws were agape and their eyes were as wide as a dinner plate. Rancis turned on his feet and began walking into the dense candy cane forest. They all stood rooted in place for a few more moments with a weighted silence. Gloyd shook his head to snap himself out of his confusion and turned to Candlehead. He patted her shoulder to gain her attention and gestured to the shrinking form of Rancis. Without another word, they followed him. Don, Deanna and Mary quickly followed, leaving Gene with Taffyta. With barely a back glance in her direction, he too followed suit.

Taffyta though stayed right where she was, almost in an eternal state of confusion and perplexity, a million thoughts were racing in her head a mile a minute.

_What is up with Rancis lately? _

_Ever since Vanellope disappeared, he's been so . . . eccentric. Protective even._

_What's gotten into-_

_Wait, does he, does he . . ._

_With Vanellope?_

"Hey Taffyta! Get your head out of the cotton candy clouds, would you? We've got a president to find!" Her attention was instantly drawn to the shrinking images of her search party. Without anything else to fight for, she sighed and followed.

She caught up with the others and trailed on behind them, not allowing them to see her curious eyes all but burning a hole in the back of Rancis' head.

The group continued on for at least another fifteen minutes, but no sign of Vanellope, her big friend or the small repairman was found. All that was seen was row after row of strongly scented peppermint trees with occasional ponds of taffy surrounding the base. Gloyd stopped to catch his breath, a wave of defeat washing over him only to make way for the undeniable feeling of hopelessness and physical exhaustion.

"Can we . . . Can we . . . whew, can we take a quick break?" Rancis stopped in his tracks and turned to face the candy corn themed racer with annoyance. "Can we take a break? We've only been out here for a few hours. We can still,"

"Wait, I think he's right." Rancis faced Gene. "What? What do you mean? We've gotta find them!" Gene nodded. "Yes, I'm aware, kid. But he's right. Even you have to admit that this search has proved fruitless."

Candlehead squinted her eyes in confusion and turned to Gene. "Well of course it's fruitless. We're in Sugar Rush! We don't have any fruit here. Peter Pepper might have some if you want."

Gene was about to correct her until he felt Rancis' hand on his shoulder. Rancis looked down at him with half-lidded eyes and shook his head. "It's not worth it."

Don cleared his throat. "While I agree with Francis, I also-"

"Rancis," he corrected.

"Right. Ok, anyway, as I was saying, I also think we've been going at this all wrong." Deanna turned to him confusedly. "What do you mean?" Don adjusted his sailor hat. "Well, Ralph is a large man, we may,"

"Yeah, that was my next question," Gloyd interrupted. "How do you manage to lose a guy that big anyway?" Don shot him a quick glare as Taffyta answered. "Pretty easily apparently. This is the second time it's happened after all." The Nicelanders glared at her. She shrugged. "Just sayin'"

"Anyway," Don continued, "what I'm saying is we could get a lot farther in this search if we look from the air. We'd be bound to find something then, wouldn't we?" Gene thought it through, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "I suppose it's not a horrible idea. But where could we get high enough to,"

"Ahem."

Gloyd pointed to a candy cane tree next to him.

This tree stood multiple stories tall with a pool of purple taffy surrounding it, a line of giant multicolored gumdrops were floating at the top. Immediately catching Gloyd's drift, Gene shook his head violently.

"No no no no, no, absolutely not. We're not climbing that behemoth of a tree!" Gloyd shrugged. "Well, it's either that or we could go look in the fungeon." Don squinted his eyebrows confusedly. "What in the world is a fungeon?"

Taffyta rolled her eyes. "It's a dungeon that's supposed to be fun. Get it? It's a play on words." Deanna suppressed a tiny giggle. "A fungeon you say? Well, that doesn't,"

"Stop." Gloyd held up his palm. "That joke has been done to death. Believe me, its old now."

"Whatever, just whatever," Rancis waved his arms. "Besides, the recolors are taking care of the castle. And . . . this tree isn't really a bad idea. If we want to find them, we have to get higher. Gloyd, let's go."

"Hold on there," Don said. "Let us go up there." The racers looked at him quizzically. "We can climb up there," he said, gesturing to the other Nicelanders. "Um, no offense," Taffyta said, "but how are a bunch of old people going to climb up that thing?"

Gene, who was about to protest to Don's involuntary action, heard Taffyta's insult. Instantly, a wave of anger washed over him, as long as a desire to prove her wrong. He straightened his suit, gestured over to Don and instructed him to follow. Don nodded and waltzed up to Gene's side at the edge of the pond. Without another moment's hesitation, Gene hopped up and landed on the first floating gumdrop with an 8-bit electronic _blip_. The gumdrop barely shifted under his minimal weight. As soon as he jumped to the next one, Don hopped onto the gumdrop Gene was previously on.

The two of them quickly made their way to the very center of the pond where the base of the tree was with the wide eyes of Rancis, Taffyta, Gloyd and Candlehead staring blankly at them. Mary and Deanna on the other hand wore amused and pleased expressions. The two small men reached the tree and were standing side by side on the same gumdrop. With a nod from Gene and a confirming nod from Don, they jumped onto the nearest branch.

Rancis' perplexed and confused face was replaced with an amused smirk as the two Nicelanders hopped from branch to branch, each time they jumped, they were greeted with the same _blip_ noise. Gene and Don continued their ascent upwards to the very top of the tree with virtually unfaltering energy and breath. Gene hopped on up with Don not far from his tail, having to readjust his white hat every other hop. The racers and Nicelanders had their heads craned upwards to see the two men reach half way up the tree.

_Boing_

_Blip_

_Boing_

Taffyta, despite of herself, let out a tiny smirk of amusement and a chuckle to follow it. "Whatddya know? For a bunch of old people, they sure can jump." Mary chuckled. "Well, when you come from a game based primarily on jumping, it certainly helps in situations like these, doesn't it dear?"

Almost three quarters of the way up the tree, Gene and Don stopped on the same branch to get a look around the forest. Gene shook his head. "We're still not high enough. I can't see a thing through all these trees. We've still got to keep climbing." Don nodded and the two kept jumping.

As they reached the next branch, a small, faint, high-pitched voice reached their ears. They stopped and looked at each other confusedly before looking down at the ground where they saw multiple tiny, multi-colored dots which resembled the children and their fellow Nicelanders. The brown one was shouting up at them with his hands cupped over his mouth, but they were too far up they couldn't make out what he was saying.

"_Ook . . . for the . . . topple . . . dripe . ._ ."

They squinted their eyes in confusion.

"What?" Gene shouted down. Rancis continued yelling.

"I said . . ." His voice was again drowned out from the distance up the tree. Gene shook his head in frustration. "We don't have time for this! Come on, let's keep going."

The two jumped onto the next branch. A strange, new beeping sound was heard.

_Breem Breem_

The branch they were standing on blinked twice . . . then disappeared under his feet.

They had merely a millisecond to look at each other with wide, worried glances before plummeting multiple feet by the second. They landed with a hard thud on another branch, a rush of peppermint dust shooting up from under them on impact and reaching their noses. They groaned in pain before pushing themselves onto their feet.

Don wiped his forehead with his arm. "Whew," he half breathed half chuckled worriedly.

_Breem Breem_

They looked down at their feet just in time to see the branch they landed on disappeared under their feet just like the other one previously had. They fell again, both screaming at the top of their lungs as they plummeted, this time with no branches below them to catch them this time. The once tiny purple pond of taffy growing bigger and bigger as they fell.

Mary and Deanna watched in absolute horror as their friends fell from the three after a candy cane branch somehow vanished from right beneath them. Rancis, Taffyta, Candlehead, Gloyd, Mary and Deanna all winced as they both fell headlong into the taffy, sending a small, thick, purple splash up in the air. They both vanished instantly.

Rancis let his hands fall limply to his side as he stared blankly at where they fell in. Mary and Deanna looked at him in shock and disbelief. Rancis sighed.

"I told them to look out for the double stripe."

The two women looked back to the pond then back to Rancis. He looked over to Gloyd.

"Come on, let's go get them before they drown."

Meanwhile,"

"I never realized how big this place really was," breathed Sticky as she stared in fascination and awe at the large, pink throne room in the castle. "Well, it is a castle after all," Nougestia stated simply. "Alright, if we want any luck in finding them, we've gotta split up," Sticky said. "I'll take a look in the bedrooms upstairs. Nougestia, you take a look in the parking garage. And Citrusella, um, uh, look in here."

The blue-haired racer looked around the wide room. "But . . . it's empty in here."

"Well, just pick a place then! Just look for them, alright?" Citrusella nodded and the other two racers ran to two openings in the walls which lead to the garage and the presidential sleeping quarters, leaving Jubileena's recolor alone in the room.

She sighed and slowly trotted over to the front of the room. She looked left and right, peering behind the pillars that were lined up in straight rows on either side of the room but found nothing. She stopped once a glittery white broad object came into view. Her heart sank slightly at the sight of the familiar curvy, single seated kart that once served as King Candy's racing kart.

A small part of her was intrigued, and another part was, for some reason, horrified. She hadn't so much as laid her eyes on the glittery kart since the day Vanellope became president of Sugar Rush, the same day he perished in the Diet Cola Mountain eruption.

_Why on earth would president Vanellope want to keep that? _Citrusella thought to herself.

She waved off the question and turned away from the kart . . . until a thought popped into her head.

_One look couldn't hurt, could it?_

She turned her head slowly, ever, ever so slowly toward the kart as if it were about to spring to life and pounce on her at a minute's notice. She turned her head just until the white frame of the kart came into view just inside of her peripheral vision. She shook her head.

_Don't be stupid. You're here to look for president Vanellope, not play with someone else's kart. _

With one last affirming nod, she turned her back to the kart and was making her way to one of the many balconies hanging outside the castle walls . . . then stopped.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, she spun on her heel and made a beeline toward the currently stationary vehicle. She practically slid to a stop right before she plowed straight into it. With wide eyes, she touched the vehicle.

"Ahem."

She yelped and nearly jumped straight up to the ceiling as the sound of someone clearing their throat quickly disrupted the peaceful silence of the throne room.

She turned around and saw Sour Bill standing barely three feet behind her with half-lidded, unamused eyes . . . as usual.

"S-Sour Bill! Sweet gobstoppers, don't do that! You scared the living _code_ outa me!" He said nothing as Citrusella started to play with her fingers nervously. Her eyes darted from Sour Bill to the kart behind her, then back to the walking sour ball. She let out a nervous chuckle. "I, uh, I guess you're wondering what I'm doing here, looking at this kart?"

"An explanation would be nice," he said simply in his usual drawling, bored voice.

She giggled nervously again. "Well, see, me and the other pallet swaps are looking for Vanellope and we came into the castle. We split up and now I'm . . . I'm uh . . . checking in this . . . kart?" Sour Bill didn't show any sign that he even remotely believed her story. Citrusella cleared her throat. "Well, I'll just go ahead and check if that's alright with you." She turned her back to him and walked over to the side of the kart, opened the reversed car doors and hopped in.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Citrusella," Sour Bill said without any hint of concern for her. She blew a quick raspberry and closed the door. She looked below the dashboard in an attempt to make it look like she actually was looking for Vanellope in front of Sour Bill and not just toying around and wasting time . . . but come on, when else would she be able to get a better look at their old dictators kart?

She popped her head back up and looked over to Sour Bill through the windshield. "Nope. I guess she's not here. Heheh." Sour Bill sighed. "So I've noticed. Now if you could please exit the kart?"

She barely even heard him, her curious eyes were wandering all over the interior of the kart. She noticed that it was almost completely different than hers or any of her friends' karts. There were multiple buttons that sprawled across the dashboard with a few more gauges and levers than she thought that any other normal kart would need. But the gas pedal, gearshift, and the other essentials seemed to be in place.

A small smirk growing on her face, she gripped the steering wheel.

"Hey Sour Bill, guess who I am!"

She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue through clenched teeth, speaking with a mocking lisp. "Have thome candy, everybody! Hoo Hoo! Yeth, have thome more! Don't worry, I've got plenty!"

Sour Bill was unamused. "Hilarious. Now if you could-"

"Oh look! It'th Vanellope! Everybody, it'th the glitch! Push her in the mud and dethtroy her thelf ethteem! That'll show her! Hoo Hoo! Gah!"

Sour Bill hopped onto the hood of the kart, stopping her poor imitation of King Candy. "Citrusella, I must insist you step out of the kart." She waved his concern off. "What for? I'm not hurting anybody. Have you seen this thing?! It's so different than my kart! Why do you suppose that is?"

Growing frustrated, but refusing to show any sign of it, Sour Bill walked to the side of the hood and did a cautious tightrope walk on the edge of the door, approaching Citrusella's right side. She eyed him curiously as he walked toward her. Once he was close enough, he grabbed onto her sleeve and tried pulling her out . . . but gained no such luck.

The sight was actually pretty amusing to her as the tiny green ball tried with all his might to pull her out of the kart. "Yeah, I don't think so pal." With a flick of her wrist, she released herself from his grip and sent him teetering backwards, barely keeping his footing on the edge of the kart. Then, much to her surprise, rather than falling off of the kart, he fell in.

His backside collided with the gearshift with alarming force. His tiny body pushed it all the way forward . . . then a little further, sending multiple cracks spider-webbing through the side. To keep himself from falling below the seat, he frantically reached for whatever he could get his tiny hands on. Fortunately, he found something.

He held on to the flat, blunt object and let out a sigh . . . until it shifted under his weight. He looked up curiously to see the shiny object he was holding onto.

The starter key.

With one tiny shift in his weight, the key turned rotated clockwise, making him lose his grip and fall to the floor at Citrusella's feet, who was watching the whole thing with wide eyes, not exactly sure of what to do at the moment.

Sour Bill hit the floor with a light thud, rolling around on the ground before coming to a stop right beside the gas pedal.

Before she could reach down to help him to his feet, the engine purred to life.

Their eyes shot wide open.

Without so much as a tap on the accelerator, the kart practically exploded from its resting place and was now rocketing down through the throne room.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, she gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles and began to swerve uncontrollably, sending Sour Bill tossing and turning on his round body on the floor. The kart shot past the entrance to the throne room. She turned the wheel to the left as quickly and cautiously as she could, wanting to clear the turn while not capsizing them.

They entered the long expanse of hallway. Swerving and turning along with the hallway until the front castle doors came into view. Her eyes grew even wider and she let out a horribly loud, high-pitched scream.

She reached for the gearshift and tried to pull back, but she couldn't. The stick was pushed too far forward off of its track that it could not be moved back.

The glass doors grew closer and closer.

_KKKKKRRRRRRAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHHH_

The kart tore straight through the glass, sharp shards of glass flying like deadly confetti around her. Mercifully, none of it grazed her. She looked back to the door behind her, which was now several, several yards away from them due to the speed of the kart. She looked forward and gulped.

Citrusella and Sour Bill were sailing straight down the pathway that lead from the castle to the raceway with absolutely no way of stopping it.

Turbo-Tastic.


	12. Spelunked

The roaring of King Candy's kart engine swallowed out the synchronized sound of Citrusella's and Sour Bill's screaming to the point where either of them couldn't be positive they were screaming at all. Her white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel never once faltered as she reflexively steered the kart left and right, avoiding trees and jawbreaker boulders.

She quickly spared a glance at the floor to see Sour Bill attempting to regain his footing but failing due to the violent vibrations of the kart, his eyes wide and swimming with fear. She looked to the right and saw row after row of the candy grandstands, all themed after a specific racer, all empty and desolate. The Royal Raceway on the other side of the stands.

Color after bright color zoomed by her at the speed of light. Swizzles', Rancis', Adorabeezles', and Taffyta's fan stands quickly past her, the popcorn box archway approaching on her right side, the same popcorn box that both King Candy and Vanellope would erupt from and announce the start of the Random Roster Race every night.

Not knowing what else to do, she cautiously turned right and sped under the arch, practically exploding out the other side. She turned right again to face the starting line which was still multiple yards in front of her, causing her to severely fishtail and lose control of the kart for about a fraction of a second before regaining control, now speeding to the starting line.

She worriedly peeked down to Sour Bill, who had given up at trying to stand and was lying face down with his eyes clamped shut and limbs sprawled outwards, and shouted.

"Sour Bill! Push the brakes!" Whether Sour Bill couldn't hear her over the deafening roar of the engine or if he was just choosing to ignore her due to his current horrified state she wasn't sure. She nudged him with her foot. He forced his eyes open and he looked up. "The brakes!" She repeated. His eyes darted from her to the brakes then back to her. His eyes widened in realization.

He set his gaze towards the brake pedal, gulped, and then reached one tiny hand forward to pull himself towards it with the floor still vibrating uncontrollably under his small body, creating multiple clicking sounds against his hard candy body.

After a cautious eternity, Sour Bill made it to the brake pedal, rose shakily to his feet, then propelled his tiny mass into it.

The pedal fought against him. The pressure of the pedal wanting to push him backwards rather than the other way around. He pushed for all he was worth, but only succeeded in bringing the kart to a bone-jarring halt sporadically before it sped forward to the starting line, whipping Citrusella's head forward in back.

She looked down at Sour Bill and saw him ramming himself into the pedal. Had the circumstances been less horrifying, the sight would have been humorous. It was like watching a live pinball game. Instead, she rolled her eyes. "Oh for the love of," she stomped her foot down onto Sour Bill, pushing him forward and into the pedal. He gave a sharp yelp of surprise as he was being crushed by her foot.

The plan didn't exactly happen as Citrusella was hoping.

Her original plan was to slow the kart down to the point where she and Sour Bill could safely jump and roll out of the runaway kart, but no such success was awarded.

Rather, because of the stuck gearshift, the kart was fighting in an invisible game of tug-of-war. The combined weight of Citrusella's foot and Sour Bill pushing down on the brake pedal fighting against the kart itself, wanting to break free from their control, like a bull waiting for the gates to open.

Citrusella clamped her eyes shut and pulled her body backwards, still hanging onto the wheel in a petty attempt to bodily bring the kart to a stop. The kart however did slow down. The rear wheels were spinning wildly, screeching loudly and sending a cloud of cocoa dust into the air. She thought she could hear Sour Bill mumble something to her, but couldn't exactly make it out due to his face being unceremoniously shoved into the brake pedal combined with the roaring engine and the screeching tires.

The steering wheel jerked left and right, the tires fighting against her iron grip.

Mercifully, the kart did slow to a safe speed to bail out. The only problem was the moment she jumped out, she wouldn't have any time to get Sour Bill out too.

She pushed harder on the pedal, not even realizing she was holding her breath. The screeching grew louder, the smell of burning rubber permeating the air around her.

_Slow down you stupid,_

_**SNAP**_**!**

"GAH!"

Her heart plummeted and skipped a beat simultaneously as she lost her footing on the brake pedal (and Sour Bill), a loud snap was heard and the pedal fell to the floor, as did Sour Bill, who went rolling back on the floor. Citrusella's head whiplashed backward as the kart shot forward again at full speed, sending Sour Bill flying back and landing between her feet.

The kart rocketed over the starting line.

She ignored Sour Bill's wide, angry eyes and his cries of protest as another turn came up ahead. She sharply banked left and exited the racetrack.

_Meanwhile,_

"Just hold still you big baby!"

Rancis and Taffyta were just about to lose what little patience that they had left after the days' events. Now they had to put up with the grouchy guy whining as they so nicely offered to rinse both him and Don off after they fell into the taffy pond, leaving them covered head to toe in the purple, sticky substance.

"Well, stop touching me then! I can get this off myself!" Deanna and Mary made several tsk noises and shook their heads, but couldn't hide the amused smirks that were growing on their faces.

"Stop laughing at us you two! We're like this because we're the only ones actually trying to find them!" Taffyta rested her knuckles on her hips. "Hey, I've been helping too. Besides, you guys look good in purple." Gene scowled at her. "Well, I don't remember asking for your opinion, Pretty in Pink! Hey! Watch where you're rinsing!" He shouted at Rancis.

Rancis stood back up from behind and sighed. "Alright, I think that's all we can do by ourselves. Gloyd, you can stop now."

The boy dressed in orange sighed and stepped away from Don, flicking his hands rapidly, purple taffy flying from them. Gene straightened out his slightly stained suit. "Hmph, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't know how you kids can stand living here."

Gloyd shrugged. "This is a racing game. We don't usually have any need to come back here that often. These trees are just for decoration. Besides, Rancis told you guys not to touch the double stripes." Don refitted his sailor hat. "Well, in our defense, we couldn't exactly hear you guys from all the way up there."

Rancis shooed off their conversation. "Sorry, whatever, but did you guys see them or anything?" Don shook his head. "Sorry, son. We didn't find Ralph or your friend." Rancis' shoulders dropped and a look of disappointment and frustration fell on his face. "Are you sure you got a good look? You did fall before you got to the top. Maybe you could climb back up again."

Gene, having overheard the two of them talking, decided to voice his opinion . . . again. "Oh no, Pretty Boy! We _are not_ going back up there again! You heard the man, we didn't see them, that's it! Simple as that!"

Rancis, not looking to pick up an argument with the small man again, sighed and wiped his hand down his face. "Alright, fine. Come on guys, let's keep looking."

Everyone's eyes shot wide open.

"What? You still want to keep going?" Asked a perplexed Gloyd. "Look dude, I wanna find these two just as much as you do, but we've been at this all day and haven't so much as found a clue to where they went. Don't you think we should call it a day and try again tomorrow?"

Rancis eyed his friend in what resembled confusion and disbelief. "Call it a day?" He repeated. "Call it a _day_?" Everyone backed up at the tone of Rancis' growing voice.

"Have you guys already forgotten the whole reason we were on this search in the first place? To find our president! Because without her, our game isn't going to be played as often, maybe even at all! And you know what that means, right? We've earned ourselves a one way ticket to Unplugged Boulevard! But hey, our game would still at least last a little while, your games won't last a full week before being unplugged if we don't find Ralph and the other guy! And you still want to give up? What is wrong with all of you?"

He was given no response. Instead, he was met with hung open jaws mixed with shameful downward glances from Gloyd, Mary, Deanna, Candlehead (who may be just gazing down out of oblivious interests or just wrapped up in utter and pure indifference), and even Taffyta, with her hands folded in front of her and eyes darting up and down between a jawbreaker stone and Rancis' scathing glare.

Rancis, with his hands held out in front of him as if awaiting for an acceptable and plausible excuse from his search party, finally shook his head in frustration and resentment, and sighed. "You know what? Whatever. Fine. Just forget it. Do what you guys want. I'm going to find my president."

With that, Rancis spun on his heel, turned his back to the colorful assortment of racers and eight-bit midgets, and marched. He didn't make it a full five paces until the sound of a faint go-kart engine reached his and the others' ears.

Candlehead perked her candled-head up with wide, curious eyes. "Um, am I the only one who hears that?"

The roaring engine grew louder and louder, the strangely familiar smell of graham crackers reaching the groups noses.

Rancis furrowed his eyebrows and turned around. "Is that a, a kart?"

As if on cue, a glittery white go kart erupted from the shadows. Gene, Taffyta, Gloyd, Deanna, Mary and Candlehead yelped in perfect unison and dove in separate directions, leaving just enough room for the kart to pass through.

Rancis' heart skipped a beat and his eyes nearly popped clean out of his head. He stepped to the right as the kart sped by him. His breath caught in his throat once he was given a clear view as to who it was.

Time seemed to slow down to the point of perfect, unnoticeable motionlessness as Citrusella's blue pigtails were blowing behind her as if they were in a wind tunnel. Her hands were wrapped so tight around the steering wheel they might as well have been glued on. A look of absolute horror and dread was melded onto her face with a wide open mouth which may be screaming, but was not audible over the kart's engine. In spite of himself and of the sporadic event that had unfolded before them, his face twisted from surprise to confusion as he figured out exactly whose kart she was driving.

In the blink of an eye, time worked back up to its original speed. Citrusella, driving King Candy's kart rounded a corner and sped down an aisle of more candy cane trees, leaving a cloud of cocoa dust lingering in the air, causing Rancis to cough uncontrollably.

The others ran up to his side. "Was that Citrusella?" Gloyd asked.

"Why in the name of Wonka was she driving King Candy's kart?" Taffyta added, her eyes wide as well.

Rancis caught his breath and glanced back to the direction of the fleeing kart.

"She's heading for Diet Cola Mountain! Come on! Let's go!"

_Meanwhile,_

"CaAaAaAaaaan't y-y-ooooUUU St-st-o-o-o-p thiiiiiiis thiIiIiIng?!" Sour Bill cried out, the uneven terrain of the forest floor causing him to stutter and skip obnoxiously.

Citrusella looked down to him. "I've tried! I can't! Now unless you have anything actually helpful to say, shut up and let me think!" Sour Bill instantly silenced himself, partly due to the bumpy road throwing off his speech pattern, but also allowing the panicked racer a moment to collect herself and create any sort of plan that would save their skins.

Before any sort of rational thought could be formed in her mind, the kart gave a sudden jolt, lifting Citrusella a few inches off of the seat before landing back hard onto it, the same having happened to Spur Bill on the floor. Her head was spinning, her eyes unable to focus on the terrain in front of her.

With a shake of her head, she regained her sight and puckered her lips in confusion.

It seems that quick jolt was a complete change in scenery. Instead of candy cane tree after candy cane tree coming into her field of view, the trees were replaced with gumdrops of all shapes and sizes and colors. She twisted her head back and saw the last remaining trees of the forest fading from her view. She turned forward and saw a path of chocolate road created by two rows of gumdrops.

At this point, Citrusella was doing, not thinking. On instinct, she twisted the wheel to the right, cautious as to not flip the kart in the process. Much to her horror, the two right wheels rose off of the ground, causing the kart to list dangerously on its side.

With the strength she could muster, she pushed the wheels back down onto the ground and was now speeding down the off-road path with gumdrops surrounding her on all sides.

Then, something miraculously popped into her vision.

How she hadn't noticed before, she wasn't at all sure. No way could she even begin to fathom how something so colossal and massive that it was almost painfully obvious even escape her line of sight.

She was speeding straight for Diet Cola Mountain.

Sour Bill, still trying to regain his balance, noticed her wide-eyed, horror filled expression. Even though he was bouncing and rolling aimlessly and uncontrollably, he was still able to make out her quivering jaw.

"Citrusella! What's the matter?"

"Um . . . Uh . . ."

She attempted to speak, but the words were lost in her breath before she could even think about speaking.

Her grip on the steering wheel grew miraculously tighter.

The broad side of the mountain drew closer and closer.

She wanted to swerve in any direction but was stopped by two factors: the fact that if she were to jerk the wheel too hard, they would no doubt flip. And the fact that they would run into a stray gumdrop and crash or flip and whatnot didn't help her case either.

Her heart was beating so hard and fast, it almost physically threatened to jump straight out of her chest and run away. They entered the shadow of the mountain, its threatening and graceful stature dominated over them, like a boot right before squashing an insignificant bug.

She returned her gaze to the rapidly approaching base of the mountain. In spite of everything, in spite of the dire situation unfurling right before them, she couldn't help but squint her eyes in confusion at the strange formation right in front of them.

Touching the base of the mountain appeared to be two lollipops, their sticks bending and crossing over one another and created an almost subtle arch, leaving a space cleared directly under it, almost as if it served as some sort of invisible entrance.

Her inquisitive thoughts were cut short as the sputtering of the engine once again snapped her back into reality and she fully realized the full weight of the situation.

They were now on a direct collision course with the mountain.

The base drew closer . . .

Closer . . .

She closed her eyes.

She screamed.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

_FZZZBBBTTT_

Rather than the bone jarring impact that she was anticipating, she was met with a wave of sudden warmth and humidity. The smell of burning chocolate reached both of their noses.

Her eyes opened.

"Huh? Whoa!"

She had not a moment to spare to gape at the sudden and drastic change of scenery. The bright and colorful world of Sugar Rush, now a dark, warm and unsettling enclosure with sharp chocolate stalactites and stalagmites on the floor and ceiling. Much like the path on the outside, this secluded area had a path that lead straight and rounded a corner where light was flickering rapidly.

"Citrusella! What, what's happened?" She looked down to see Sour Bill, his look of horror replaced with one of curiosity and anxiousness. She twisted her head left and right. Again, no words found their way to her lips. As she grew closer and closer to the corner, the humidity grew to a near boiling point. A single bead of sweat permeated on her brow.

The flickering light grew brighter.

The corner approached. She turned left. To her amazement and relief, the karts' wheels stayed planted on the ground.

Then her jaw dropped.

What opened up before her was a sight she could not have prepared herself for even if she tried. The source of the heat and the light was coming from a lake.

A round lake at least a hundred feet in diameter was lying right in front of her, filled to the brim with a broiling liquid that was colored with a sickly mixture of yellow and orange. It fizzed and bubbled and popped violently.

With a shriek of surprise, Citrusella steered the kart to the left to avoid falling into the lake. The kart sharply banked in the direction she willed it to, sending Sour Bill flying to the side once again, hitting the side of the kart with a frightening impact.

The kart sped forward again, approaching a hill. It climbed the hill with ease, until she crashed into a barrier that seemed to have just jumped up from out of nowhere. She tore through the road barrier like it was made of paper, bits of blue metal flew in every direction. Citrusella sharply turned right to avoid crashing into a wall. The kart straightened out and sped onward. It didn't take her long to realize that they were on another road.

She continued forward, sending another cloud of chocolate dust flying behind them as she did. The new road bent into a slight curve to the right. She followed it and the terrain beneath the wheels once again shifted. It switched from smooth and steady to bumpy and rickety.

She looked forward and saw that the new road was constructed out of long, pink, rectangular wafers. She followed the road with her eyes and nearly had a heart attack after she laid her eyes on what was awaiting in front of them.

The wafer path continued forward before slanting up into a rapid ascent. She realized that this structure was being held up entirely by large pretzel sticks. The wafer path was supposed to create a bridge over the lake of boiling liquid so the player could safely drive over and continue onto the other side of the track.

_Supposed to._

On the other side of the lake was the remaining part of the bridge with its own continuing path of pink wafers. But where the actual bridge was supposed to be, there was no bridge.

A freakishly large gap was in between the continuing section of the track.

For the umpteenth time that day, Citrusella's jaw dropped.

With no other alternative in sight, she reached a conclusion.

Citrusella let go of the wheel, bent down, scooped up Sour Bill into her arms, and stood up on the seat. Sour Bill's eyes widened. "What, what are you doing?!" He wailed. He turned and saw the gap rapidly approaching. Before he could scream, Citrusella climbed up on the crown cutout back section of the kart and managed to slip into a sitting position, her other arm resting on the tip of the crown for support.

With the wind blowing her hair wildly and the unnerving thought of the plunge into the extremely hot lake presently burned into her mind, she shook her head, closed her eyes, and slid off the back.

She hit the wafer floor feet first. The speed she was traveling at swept her feet from under her and she tumbled head over heels backwards, tucking Sour Bill close to herself instinctively. In the process of tumbling uncontrollably, she managed to catch a glimpse of the glittery white candy kart fly off the edge and out of her view.

She grunted and yelped as she made contact with the ground. Finally, the surface beneath her disappeared.

Acting purely out of desperation and instinct, she reached her hand out.

With a combination of luck and mercy, her hand gripped the outside edge of the wafer. She felt her arm strain under the pressure of having to support her entire weight as she swayed forward and backward, dangling helplessly over the lake. She looked down and barely saw King Candy's kart finally land in the lake with a loud _PLOP_.

It sent up a small, thick splash of hot liquid and bobbed for a few moments before sinking nose first in the lake. The white exterior dissolved like paint and spread across the lake's surface like an oil spill. The white, paint-like liquid lingered for a few moments before vanishing completely with a hiss.

Citrusella watched as King Candy's kart finally disappeared under the lake.

_HHSSSS_

They looked at the spot where his kart had been for a moment longer in complete, awestruck silence.

Ignoring the searing hot pain in her arm as she hung there like a ragdoll precariously over the broiling hot lake, Citrusella swallowed.

"Oops."

_Meanwhile,_

"Citrusella!"

"Citrusella! The brakes! Hit the brakes!"

"Come on, girl! Get out of that kart so we can go back to our game!"

"Olly olly oxen free!"

Rancis, Taffyta, Gloyd, Candlehead, Gene, Mary, Don and Deanna ran as fast as their legs could carry them, shouting at the top of their lungs until their throats were sore knowing full well that there was no way that the blueberry themed racer would be able to hear them from that great distance and over the sound of the kart's engine. They knew their attempts to communicate with her were all but futile, but found no better alternative.

The eight of them passed the last row of candy cane trees and were met with a field of gumdrops, Diet Cola Mountain now sitting in plain sight.

"Come on . . . She went this way!" Rancis panted, following the fading sound of King Candy's kart as well as the tire marks left in the ground.

Gloyd, panting heavily and resting his hand on his chest, began falling back behind the Nicelanders. Taffyta turned and narrowed her eyes in his direction as she continued running behind Rancis. "Come on, Gloyd! Hurry it up!"

The group was now over half way to the base of the mountain, Rancis was still ahead of the pack, ignoring the searing pain in his lungs and the stabbing pain in his feet as he continued onward.

They each entered the shadow of the mountain, passed the last corner of gumdrops and found . . .

Nothing.

Rancis, Taffyta, Gene and everyone else except for Gloyd, who was still trailing behind, stopped dead in their tracks as they looked at nothing but the empty wall at the base of the mountain.

Rancis furrowed his brow in confusion, trying to find the words that could even remotely describe the perplexed state his mind was in right now. Suddenly, the panting of Gloyd brought him back into reality as he finally caught up with the group. Once he finally caught his breath, he looked up and silenced his gasping breaths and took on the groups' confused persona.

"But, but, I saw her! She went this way!" Rancis had his hand outstretched forward, gesturing toward the spot where he had predicted Citrusella would be. Gene hmphed in frustration. "Well, if she came in this direction, she must be around here somewhere. Let's spread out and keep looking."

Rancis and the group nodded in agreement and dispersed, looking behind gumdrops and sugar-free lollipop trees, except for Gloyd, who had his hand perched on a green gumdrop, still struggling to catch his long lost breath. Once he saw the group break up and begin searching the area, he let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his face tiredly.

"Oh come on!" He let go of the gumdrop and stood up straight, leaning his neck back. "Just who exactly are we looking for, now? First we're looking for Vanellope and that bug guy, now for Citrusella? Can't we just sit down for a bit?"

He began walking to the base of the mountain with his hands in his pockets. He turned his back to the wall and leaned back.

"We've been at this for hours! Besides, even if she crashed, she'll just regenerate, right? So why not just take a breather?"

He leaned back on the wall.

"WhaaaAAAAAA!"

_FFZZZBBBTTT_

Rancis stood up from behind the red gumdrop he was searching behind and looked at the spot where his friend once was. "Gloyd? Gloyd? Where'd you go?"

The rest of the group stopped what they were doing and looked over at the empty base of the mountain. "Now where did that trouble maker get off to?" Rancis looked unappreciatively over at Gene.

_FZZZBBTTT_

Rancis and Taffyta flinched at the strange sound. They looked over to the wall and found . . .

"Guys! Guys! You gotta check this out!"

No one could describe exactly what it was they were looking at. The upper half of Gloyd's body was sticking out of the wall, a ghostly white, pixelated circle was surrounding his waist, and a small, blue three by three grid appeared in the wall at the center where Gloyd was standing. He looked at them confusedly. "Well, what are you guys waiting for? Come on in!"

He vanished in the wall.

Rancis and Taffyta turned toward each other, shrugged, and walked over to the wall with everyone else following.

Before any of them knew it, they were standing in a large, warm room.

"Hm, I don't recognize this place," Candlehead inquired.

"That's because the race track doesn't go past here." Taffyta explained.

"Well, whatever the case, we've got a new place to look. Alright everybody, let's"

"Rancis? Taffyta? Is that you?"

Rancis stopped in midsentence at the sound of the new voice. He turned and his heart nearly sank.

Beyond a corner, a strange, bright light was flickering. Two shadows, both large, but one significantly larger than the other, became noticeable. The two shadows became smaller, and smaller, footsteps and multiple clicking noises were heard.

The shadows began shrinking and their shapes became more and more definitive. One was taller, had a very round head, and two pigtails on both sides of its head. The other was small, very small, and round.

They rounded the corner. Rancis gasped.

"Citrusella?"

"Sour Bill?" Taffyta added.

"Hey guys," she waved shyly. "Look what we found. Heheh."


	13. Tips, Tricks and Helpful Hints

The moment Kat lead the group out of the cave, Ralph let out the longest and loudest sigh of relief he has ever given. Right when the fresh, clean air hit his nostrils and the cool atmosphere of the night sky washed over him, he felt a reassuring, almost rejuvenating sense of comfort washed over him, replacing all negative thoughts he had toward the dark cave that nearly served as their tomb.

Before Ralph could verbally express his appreciation for the outdoor world, Vanellope beat him to it.

"Whoo boy, it is _good_ to be back out here again!" Calhoun snorted amusedly. "You can say that again, Shortstack." By the time all four of them had exited the cave, Kat was already half way down the hill, not even realizing they had stopped on the perch that resided at the halfway point of the hill. Kat, finally noticing no one was following her, turned around and looked up at the group.

"Hey, you guys coming?" They were instantly brought back into reality by the sound of her voice. Vanellope and Felix were the first to start their descent. Vanellope turned to face Ralph with an evil smile while wiggling her eyebrows. "Now, watch your step there, buddy boy. We don't want to relive past events, do we?"

Ralph glared down at the girl while Calhoun patted his shoulder twice with an amused smile of her own.

"You know," Vanellope continued, "when Calhoun here threatened to roll us down their like a bowling ball, she didn't mean literally," she chuckled, clearly pleased with herself. Ralph only grunted before making his way down the steps after them.

The five of them reached the bottom relatively quickly, and Kat, still ahead of them, let out a gasp similar to the one she gave when she discovered Felix. Her head turned to face them and her voice came up again. "No way! You even have the kart! I didn't even know that . . . Holy cow this is so cool! It looks just like it!"

Vanellope quickly glitched her way in front of Kat before she could lay a hand on her kart. "Oh no, sister! You are not taking this baby on a joyride! This is for me, and me only!" Kat paused, as if somehow knowing Vanellope were snapping at her without any means of communication. Her cubed head scanned the kart left and right before returning Vanellope's gaze.

"Hm, I'm not able to get into it. Weird. I thought I had to push X to get in . . ." She trailed off. "Well, whatever. This thing is cool and all, but you guys think you could put it in your inventory so we can get a move on? I wanna get back to my house before my battery dies on me."

She turned and was about to walk into the forest until she stopped cold and let out a long sigh before speaking again. "But I'm playing Minecraft! Can't Nathan or Jeremy do it?"

Ralph, Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun furrowed their eyebrows in shared confusion. Felix raised a gloved finger. "Um, pardon me?"

She continued talking angrily, as if speaking to an invisible person for almost a full minute before sighing in defeat. "Alright, fine." She faced Ralph and the group. "Sorry guys. I've gotta take the garbage out because my idiot brothers are too lazy to do anything around here. Could you guys stick around for a minute and make sure some Creeper or something doesn't blow me up while I'm gone?"

They said nothing. Rather, they just stood there, gawking at Kat in a confused stupor.

"And I'm not even sure why I asked that in the first place since you can't talk to me anyway. But just stick around, alright? I'll be back." And with that . . . well, they weren't exactly sure what happened after that. She just went completely stock still and silent. Not sure what else she was able to do at the moment, Calhoun walked up in front of her and waved her hand in front of her face, trying to get some sort of reaction out of the girl.

She tuned to face Ralph and Felix. "What in the name of Colonel H Sanders just happened to her?"

Ralph scratched the back of his neck in reply. "No idea. And who the heck are Nathan and Jeremy?" Vanellope huffed and placed her fists on her hips. "No idea, but they sound _lame_. But who cares about that? What was she talking about an inventory?" Ralph shrugged in reply.

Immediately after, all eyes darted to Felix. "Um, what're you all looking at me for?" Calhoun shrugged. "Out of the four of us, you seem to be the only one who at least has a slight idea of how this place works. Well, besides the blocky stiff right her," she pointed a thumb in Kat's direction.

"Yeah!" Vanellope chimed in. "And what was all that about an inventory?"

Felix tapped his chin and clucked his tongue thoughtfully. "Well," he trailed, "in a game like this, it would stand to reason that some sort of inventory setting would have to be required. After all, Kat had all that equipment with her. Who's to say that can't apply to us?" Vanellope, still unamused with the situation, crossed her arms and snorted. "Well that's all fine and good, but why can't we just drive to her house?"

"Well, Nelly," Felix started, "she doesn't have any means of transportation like we do, and she has to be the one to lead the way in a world like this. So, we can't just leave her behind." Vanellope sighed. "Fine. But still, how can we just make an entire kart disappear? Does Captain Smiles over here have a shrink ray in that utility belt of hers?"

Calhoun furrowed her brow. "Amusing, Pipsqueak. Felix, Honey, how about checking in that touch screen guide . . . thing."

Felix snapped his fingers and a look of sudden realization crossed over his face. "Of course! Silly me. Thank you, dear." Calhoun gave another amused snort and rolled her eyes as Felix reached into his tool belt and pulled out the touch screen scroll.

"Um, let's . . . see . . ." He swiped his finger upwards, the screen scrolled downward, its many rows of instructions and cubes flashed before his eyes.

"Here! Here! I found it!" Vanellope, Ralph and Calhoun each made their way to get a good view of the paper. "Whatsit say? Whatsit say?" Vanellope was practically jumping in and out of her shoes before Calhoun placed a hand on her head to calm her down.

"Alright, it says here to, ah," he mumbled under his breath and trailed off. "It says 'to store an item in the inventory, simply tap the object twice'."

The group scrunched up their eyebrows in confusion.

"Um, I'm sorry. We have to do what?" Vanellope ran her eyes back and forth from the paper to her parked kart. Felix cleared his throat. "Well, it says to just tap it twice. That . . . appears to be it."

Vanellope shook her head. "That's it? Tap it twice? That's all we have to do?"

Ralph snorted. "Well, let's give it a try."

With a shrug and a shake of his head, Ralph walked up to Vanellope's kart. He trotted up to the side and put his hands on his hips thoughtfully. He smacked his lips and rubbed his chin almost skeptically. He turned and saw Felix waving his hands in a shooing motion, clearly telling him to do it.

Ralph turned back to the kart, raised one finger, and tapped it twice.

_Bing Bing._

The sound similar to the one that Felix's scroll makes was immediately heard. A white highlight outlined the edge of the kart twice before the whole thing vanished right in front of them.

Ralph yelped in surprise and stepped back a few paces.

With wide, confused eyes, Ralph turned back to Felix and the girls, gesturing toward the empty space where the kart once was with open palms. Felix, Calhoun and Vanellope responded with similar expressions and hung open jaws.

Before any of them could declare their new state of confusion, a bright flash appeared on the surface of the touch screen in Felix's gloved fingers. He diverted his attention from the spot where the bright green and pink kart vanished and to a new page the scroll had just created.

Felix, Calhoun and Vanellope watched in wonder as a new tiny, white square was created. And inside that square was . . .

"My kart?! How the fudge did it get in there?" Felix shrugged. "That's just the way this crazy game works, sweetheart." Calhoun lowered her head so her face was only inches away from the tiny icon which represented Vanellope's kart.

"Sorry hun, but I'm more lost than a Jackrabbit in December. What you're saying is that her kart is inside this thing now?"

Felix smiled and shook his head. "Not exactly. It's not in here, per se. It's just in our inventory for when we need it later."

Ralph came up to their positions and peered down curiously at the page. "Man," he said almost tiredly, "this game gets weirder by the minute, doesn't it?"

They each nodded in agreement before the sound of a girl grumbling quietly reached their ears. Kat's body shifted before her head turned to face them. "Sorry to leave you like that, guys. I'm back now. Let's get going."

_Meanwhile_,

"Alright, so let me get this straight," Rancis started. "You took King Candy's kart, went on a rampage throughout the game, then you find this place while destroying his kart in the process?"

Citrusella raised her hands defensively. "Not on purpose! It was an accident! You've gotta believe me!" Rancis took a cautious step back. "Hold on, it's not that I don't believe you. It's just that we have been through a lot today and I'm trying to make sense of all of this. Now, start from the beginning, please. Tell me how you got in Candy's kart."

Before she begin her side of the story, Sour Bill's clicking feet on the ground was heard. They turned to see him approaching from what Rancis could only guess was a lava bed. "I'll tell you what she was doing. Breaking the rules and disregarding her own safety. And even worse, _MY_ safety!" Rancis was shocked as to hear an actual hint of any emotion coming from Sour Bill at all.

Citrusella barked back at him with a remark of her own before Rancis stopped her. "Whoa, whoa guys. Just back up, please. Sour Bill, what do you mean she was breaking the rules?"

Sour Bill huffed before turning to face Rancis. "Well, she was in the throne room, _unsupervised_ I might add, deliberately ignored my warnings to not approach King Candy's kart, caused me to fall and damage it while accidentally turning it on, then we drove through the game and . . . here we are." He used his tiny, unattached arms to gesture around him while shooting a venomous glare in Citrusella's direction.

Before Rancis could ask any more questions, Gloyd's voice broke the weighted silence. "Hey Rancis! Come check this out!"

Rancis sighed before turning to see him, Taffyta, Candlehead and the Nicelanders huddled around a pink sign on the edge of the boiling lake. Rancis squinted his eyes and stepped forward to get a good view. Before he could fully read it, Taffyta spoke it out loud.

"'Diet Cola Hot Springs. Watch out for falling . . . Mentos'?"

On cue, the small search party tilted their heads upwards. Their eyes bugged wide and their jaws fell slack at the sight. "Whoa," Gloyd breathed.

High above them was a system of clustered stalactites in a circular formation dangling from the ceiling. Rancis read the sign again and realized that those weren't any normal stalactites. They were indeed Mentos, hanging precariously over the boiling liquid which was now identified as a form of diet cola.

Gloyd's expression of disbelief was almost instantly replaced with one of mischief.

He looked to the ground, saw a tiny chunk of chocolate, scooped it up in his hand and threw it up and down, an idea clearly forming inside his head. Gene turned and saw the look on the child's face. He turned to face Gloyd with narrowed eyebrows and his mouth in a straight line. "Kid, don't you even think about it."

His warning may not have been spoken at all, Gloyd showed no sign of him even remotely listening to anyone else, but rather focused entirely on the white disks hanging above him and the pool below.

Everyone's eyes darted to Gloyd as he brought his hand back and threw the chocolate rock as hard as he could upward. It sailed for a few moments before hitting a three-piece cluster of Mentos with a satisfying _click_.

The rock fell down into the diet cola, the Mentos not even moving an inch.

Gloyd's arms went slack at his sides. "Ah man," he complained.

Before any harsh words could be passed around at his irresponsible behavior and dangerous actions, the bottom three Mentos he hit detached from the rest and fell headlong into the boiling pool like a tiny missile.

It landed perfectly vertical with a thick _splash _in the cola. The area where it landed began to fizz white bubbles at the surface.

_**FWOOOSH**_!

Before any of them could react, a geyser nearly the size of the Nicelander penthouse erupted, sending small splashes of broiling hot cola flying in every direction.

Everyone's eyes widened and they scattered as the cola fell where they were originally standing. The splashes exploded like landmines, sending tiny drops of the searing hot liquid flailing in every direction.

A drop of the cola landed on Rancis' arm. He winced and hissed through his teeth as he covered the area with his hand in an attempt to conceal the pain as he kept running.

Once the geyser subsided, everyone stopped where they were and rested their hands on their knees, catching their long lost breath.

All eyes were aiming directly at Gloyd.

If looks could kill, there would be another crater inside the volcano where Gloyd stood.

He stood up and shrugged. "What?"

Gene looked about ready to blow his top. "What? WHAT?! You could have killed us you stupid kid! Why would you do something so irrational and stupid? I can't even,"

"Ok, that's enough, Gene," Deanna said calmly, trying to get a seething Gene under control.

Gene looked at her with wide eyes. "What do you mean _that's enough_?" He spat. Before he could continue to vent his rage, Rancis stepped up, still holding onto his arm.

"What she means is getting mad over that won't solve anything. Just like how arguing over where Vanellope and Ralph went won't bring them back. Yes what Gloyd did was stupid,"

"Hey!"

"But honestly, that's about what we can expect from him. It's in his code."

Taffyta crossed her arms and snorted, her gaze traveling over to Gene. "Yeah, like how being a total grump all the time is in your code." Gene's eyes widened in outrage.

"_How dare you_! Why I'd aught a . . ." He trailed off and sighed. "You know what? This just isn't worth my time anymore. I'm going home." With that, Gene straightened out his suit and began walking to the path that lead to the exit. Don, Deanna and Mary looked at him with questioning glances. "What? You're giving up?" Don asked.

Gene turned around and nodded. "That's right. We've been at this all night, and all we've proven is that not a single one of us can get along. Don, Deanna, Mary, do what you want. I don't care anymore."

Gene turned and walked away. And this time, he didn't stop until the distant _FFZZZBT_ sound was heard, telling the group that he had left the volcano without giving it a second thought.

Rancis, Taffyta, Candlehead, Gloyd, Citrusella, Sour Bill, Don, Deanna and Mary stood absolutely still, their eyes glued to the floor. No one said a word until Sour Bill made multiple murmuring sounds while scratching his chin (can a ball have a chin?), tapping his foot up and down.

Citrusella bent down to his level. "Sour Bill? What is it?"

He looked up at her. "It's something he said . . . about us being at this all night . . ." He gasped and his eyes grew wide. He looked back to the small group of racers.

"The Roster Race! We have to have it before the arcade opens!"

Taffyta, Candlehead, Gloyd and Citrusella gasped in sudden realization. They _had_ been searching all night and the time must have gotten away from them.

Taffyta stepped forward, gesturing the other racers to follow. "Come on! We've gotta round up the other racers!" Gloyd, Candlehead and Citrusella nodded and followed Taffyta toward the exit alongside Sour Bill . . . except for Rancis.

Gloyd stopped in his tracks, turned on his heel and looked at Rancis almost pleadingly. "Dude! Didn't you hear? We've gotta get to the racetrack!"

Don, Mary and Deanna looked up to Rancis in time to see him look to the ground, close his eyes, and sigh.

"Go on without me."

Taffyta, Candlehead, Citrusella and Sour Bill practically skidded to a halt, sending up a cloud of cocoa dust beneath their feet at what Rancis had just said.

"You mind running that by us again, Fluggerbutter?" Taffyta asked.

Rancis looked back up to them, a look of utmost seriousness that he has never worn before was practically chiseled like a writing in stone. "I'm not going." He repeated. "I'm staying to look for Vanellope."

Citrusella stepped forward. "But . . . but the roster! The gamers will notice if two of us aren't on there!"

Rancis shook his head. "No they won't. They're more concerned about Vanellope, not me. They won't notice if I'm not there. Go on. I'll be fine."

Citrusella took a few more paces forward. "I know Sour Bill and I found this place and no one has really been here before, but if she and the other guy were in here, I think we'd have found them by now. Are you sure you're,"

"Yes. I said go!"

Citrusella flinched at his growing tone. She said nothing as she turned around and walked back to the group. For the rest of the trip to the exit, no one said a word . . . except for Candlehead who was smiling and waving ecstatically back at the Nicelanders.

"Bye short people! I hope you find your big person and little person!"

The remaining three Nicelanders exchanged questioning glances before waving awkwardly at the girl with a candle on her head.

After a few more moments, Rancis, Don, Mary and Deanna heard the _FFZZZBT_, and just like that, they were now on their own.

Rancis sighed before looking back down to the remaining group and shrugged. "You sure you guys don't want to leave? There's really no point in staying you know."

Don shrugged in return. "Well, we don't have a point in returning into our game. It's out of order. No one's going to play it."

"That's right," Mary chimed in. "With this free time, we might as well stay and help look for Felix, Ralph and that _adorable_ friend of his."

Rancis turned and walked toward the diet cola. "I guess Gene didn't exactly feel the same way."

Don walked up to Rancis and placed a hand on his back. "Listen son, we know how Gene can be. And I do apologize for his behavior. He can just be so . . . so . . . help me out here, ladies?"

Mary and Deanna raised a finger to their lips, trying to think of an acceptably nice adjective to describe Gene's rudeness.

Rancis waved them off. "It's ok guys. You don't have to answer for him."

Don adjusted his cap and looked back up at Rancis. "But I am sure that Gene isn't _all_ proud of what he's done . . . In fact all of us Nicelanders have done things we're not proud of."

Rancis furrowed his brow confusedly before looking down at Don. "What do you mean?"

The Nicelanders diverted their gaze from Rancis shamefully to the floor. "Rancis, do you know why Ralph abandoned our game in the first place?"

Rancis thought for a moment until a surprising thought came to him: Vanellope never really did talk about how she and Ralph became best friends. He just showed up one day, destroyed the racetrack, disappeared, then all of a sudden, Sugar Rush is restored, King Candy was gone, Vanellope was the Princess/President, and her and Ralph were practically inseparable from that moment on. Other than that, he really had never fully thought about what exactly drove Ralph to do what he did.

Rancis looked back down to Don and shook his head.

Don sighed. "Ralph left our game because we haven't exactly treated him like we should have. For thirty years . . . _thirty years_," he repeated, we treated him like a monster, like a delinquent, like a . . . a . . ."

"Like a glitch."

The Nicelanders looked at Rancis quizzically.

"You see, before Vanellope became the lead racer and President of our game, Taffyta, the other racers bullied Vanellope to no end . . . And I'm ashamed to say that I helped bully her too. Every attempt she made in becoming a real racer, in becoming one of us, we shattered her hopes like a candy cane. We wouldn't even allow her anywhere near the racetrack. If she built her own kart, we destroyed it. If she tried to make peace with us, we pushed her in the mud . . . For fifteen straight years that process continued. It was a never-ending cycle for her of rejection, neglect, and violence. I swear, if I could take all those years of torment back, I would."

Deanna and Mary sniffed and wiped a tear from their eyes. "Poor dear . . . Poor, _poor_ dearie." Mary whined. "And we thought Ralph had it bad for all those years. Why . . . what on earth possessed you to be so cruel to that child?"

Don turned to her. "Mary! That's not,"

Rancis rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's ok. It's not like she's wrong. We were cruel to her. But, in all honesty, it wasn't fully our fault. You remember Turbo?"

The Nicelanders winced at the name, causing Rancis to give the faintest hint of a slightly amused smirk.

"Well, from what I could gather, when our game was plugged in, Turbo invaded, turned Vanellope into a glitch, locked up all of our memories, and he became the King. King Candy. That's what he called himself. He kept Vanellope away from the racetrack out of fear that she would remember her rightful position and overthrow him, and convinced us that she was just a glitch and that we couldn't associate ourselves with her whatsoever. So he gave us the permission, no, the _duty_ to bully her ourselves. And . . . well, the rest is history."

Don, Mary and Deanna took a deep, sorrowful breath, and swallowed deeply. Don took off his sailor cap. "I don't . . . I can't . . ."

Rancis smiled and stopped him. "It's alright. I guess you could say that we're not so different ourselves."

Don put his cap back on and returned Rancis' smile. "Well, you had at least an excuse for what you did. We," he gestured to the women, "we don't have any excuse as to why we did what we did. We just assumed Ralph was the bad guy, and he deserved to be treated like a bad guy that we . . . we didn't even give him a chance to prove that he wasn't . . . bad."

As soon as he finished, the air was permeated with the most weighted, awkward silence that any of them had ever experienced after their discussion. The four of them just stood there, looking blankly into the cola pit, watching . . . memorizing . . . _studying_ every bubble that rose to the surface, every fizz the liquid created.

Finally, Rancis coughed and rubbed his hands.

"Well, we've talked about the past long enough, haven't we?"

The Nicelanders looked back to Rancis, smiled and nodded.

Rancis returned it. "Let's get back to work then."

_Later_,

"No way. Nuh uh."

Vanellope rolled her eyes. "Come on you big wuss! It's not that big a deal!"

Ralph glared down at the child. "There is no way I am going down there." Felix patted Ralph's arm comfortingly. "Come on, brother. It's just one more time!"

Ralph snorted and looked down to his friend. "How do you know that, Felix? The game is called Minecraft for cripes sake. Odds are we're going to go down there a lot more often than up here." Felix only shrugged in reply.

Calhoun came up and attempted to pat Ralph's shoulder but managed to slap him so hard on the back he nearly fell forward while almost coughing up a lung. "Come on now, Wreck-It! Where's your sense of adventure?"

Ralph looked back at Calhoun. "Back over at Litwak's! Where it belongs! Now I am not going back down there again!"

As if on cue, almost as if she had waited for the precise moment to shatter Ralph's hopes of not ever returning to the dark underworld, Kat strode up from behind them and walked in front of them. "Alright. Let's go."

With a sigh, Ralph entered the cave.

_Later_,

"I know we just got out of one of my mines, but I just had to make a quick stop down here."

Ralph grumbled a certain absurdity under his breath which isn't meant to be used in polite company while simultaneously rubbing a massive hand over his face exasperatedly. Vanellope couldn't help but chuckle at her friends' grumpy attitude.

"I needed some more diamonds and I just happened to be lucky enough to have a mine that I have had the best of luck in finding some. You're welcome to take some diamonds if you want."

Calhoun let out an impressed whistled. "Dang. An entire cave filled with diamonds. I could get used to this place."

"Yeah well don't," Ralph snapped. "Remember, first chance we get, we're outa here."

_Later_,

"We should be . . . almost . . . here!"

Kat came to a stop in the narrow hallway in the cave that she had lead them down, causing Ralph, Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun to nearly run one another over. All eyes went to Kat as she miraculously materialized a pickaxe in her hand and began pounding the stone wall in front of her, humming to herself as she did.

"Ra ta ta . . . Hmmmhm."

Ralph squinted his eyes in confusion, darting them between Kat and the wall. It took Ralph a moment to realize that the wall she was pounding was a little different than any others in the cave that Ralph had seen.

Certain squares in the wall had a distinct pattern of teal and aqua spots visible on the sides. As she drove the pickaxe multiple times into the wall, a spider web of cracks formed until the whole thing disintegrated, leaving only a tiny, oval shaped teal gem floating in the now open space.

Ralph said nothing as she continued the process, collecting the tiny remains as she went for whatever reason that Ralph didn't bother questioning for the mere fact that she couldn't answer him even if she wanted and the fact that he was left speechless at what he was seeing right before him.

After about ten of the cubes have been broken down and collected, she finally put the pickaxe away and turned to face the group.

"Alright, I got what I needed. Let's get outa here."

_Later_,

As Kat lead the group down the path that lead to the outside world, Vanellope, who was sitting atop her usual perch on Ralph's shoulder broke the silence.

"That's it?" She asked in an agitated attitude. "That's why we came down here? For a few stupid rocks? I could've just spent an hour in the rock candy caves back home if I wanted,"

Ralph placed a finger over her mouth to silence her. "Look kid, I'm losing my patience too. But let's just go with it, ok? Because the faster we do this, the sooner we're back home and,"

TSTSTS

Ralph's eyes widened as a familiar sound came up behind him. He turned.

"AAAAHHH!"

Calhoun immediately turned, kicked the oncoming spider in the head and watched it fly backwards and into a deep cavern they were walking alongside. It landed on its back and disappeared in a cloud of smoke on impact.

Calhoun looked over to Ralph with an eyebrow arched and one end of her mouth hooked in an amused manner. Vanellope on the other hand couldn't help but laughing out loud, rocking back and forth on her friends' shoulder.

"You shoulda seen the look on your face! It was priceless! Oh-ho man, if only we got a picture of that."

Calhoun stepped up from behind. "Seriously Wreck-It, I'm beginning to wonder who the little girl here is really."

Vanellope giggled again.

Ralph narrowed his brow and straightened his mouth to a flat, unamused line.

"I hate this game and everything in it."

_Later_,

"Are we there yet?"

Ralph rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Kid, that's the fifth time you've asked that in under a minute! And for the fifth time, no. We aren't there yet."

Vanellope huffed, crossed her arms, and slouched down lower on Ralph's shoulder. Before she could ask again, she caught the smallest trace of movement out of the corner of her eye.

She sat up. "Huh?"

Ralph stopped. "What? What is it?" Having heard this, Calhoun and Felix stopped as well.

"I . . . I think I saw . . ."

Calhoun cocked her repeater rifle. "Saw what? A Creeper? Zombie? Spiders that make Wreck-It cry like a little girl?" Ralph glared at the sergeant. If Vanellope found Calhoun's slam on Ralph the least bit humorous, she showed absolutely no sign of it. Her gaze was permanently fixated on a single tree in the forest they were currently traveling through.

"No," she said, "no it didn't look like any of those. It was . . . pink."

"What?" Ralph raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Pink? You sure, kid?" Vanellope nodded vigorously while pointing a shaky finger in the direction of where she saw the pink blur.

It came again. Calhoun raised her rifle.

"I saw it too. Keep tight guys, it looks like we're in for another . . ."

The pink object emerged from the tree. All jaws dropped to the ground.

"A pig?" Vanellope asked.

Sure enough, another animal, smaller in size, walking on all fours, pink, and making several oinking sounds emerged.

With a small smile and a grunt, Calhoun put away her rifle and stood up, placing her hands on her hips. "Man," she breathed, "look at this _beast_," she said sarcastically, gesturing to the pink animal in front of them.

Felix couldn't help but let out a chuckle and slap his knee. "Well would you look at that adorable,"

"PIG!"

Before Felix could finish his proclamation of adoration, a wild war cry emerged from the trees and Kat erupted from the trees with a bow in her hand. Before anyone could stop her, she unloaded multiple arrows into the pig's side. The pig fell on its side and vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a blocky, triangular object floating in its place.

Kat walked up and retrieved it, ignoring the wide eyed stares she was getting from everyone. "Finally, I was running out of pork chops," Kat said, clearly amused. She looked over to Ralph and the group. "C'mon. We're almost there." She walked away.

Ralph looked over at Vanellope, who was staring at Kat as she walked off. Ralph cleared his throat.

"Um, let's follow her . . ."

_Later_,

"Alright guys. My house is just over this hill. Let's go."

Vanellope let out a sigh. "Holy crumbs, _finally_!"

Kat was currently leading them up another hill, making the group climb up yet another blocky incline, causing Ralph to clutch his chest tiredly. Vanellope gave him a half-hearted punch to his cheek and glitched off his shoulder and onto the hill.

"You big baby. It's not that far. Just hurry up!" Vanellope glitched to the top of the hill, next to Kat. Vanellope then stopped as Kat climbed down the other side of the hill. Ralph squinted confusedly.

Ralph noticed how Vanellope had her back to him and her arms hovering at her sides.

"Kid? What's wrong?"

Vanellope never turned back. Her gaze was fixed on whatever was on the other side of the hill. "I-I uh . . . You guys gotta see this."

Ralph turned back to see Calhoun and Felix effortlessly climbing and hopping up each level. They shrugged. He sighed and continued climbing.

When Ralph reached the top, he crouched beside Vanellope in an attempt to catch his breath.

"Now . . . wha . . . what is . . ." He looked down the other side of the hill. His eyes widened and he stood up straight. "Whoa."

Calhoun and Felix made it to the top and stood on either side of Ralph and Vanellope. Their eyes might as well have jumped right out of their sockets and rolled down the other hill that they were standing on.

What none of them knew was that the hill they walked up lead to the entrance of what looked like a large canyon. The sight was nice, but that's not what any of them were focused on at the moment.

At the bottom of the canyon, which was only as deep as the hill they climbed up on the other side, was a building. Ralph and Felix noticed that it was a very familiar building standing eighteen stories high, made out of red and white blocks with four windows on each row.

They were looking straight at an exact replica of the Fix-It Felix Jr. penthouse.


	14. Home Away From Home

Kat continued walking down the blocky hill, leaving Ralph, Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun with wide eyes and slack jaws.

The sight before them was almost too unbelievable, too extreme, and too good to be true. But there is, standing tall and proud: the penthouse.

The amount of detail that was present in the buildings' features was extraordinary on its own. Almost everything, if _not_ everything was so close to the original, it was hard to tell that it was merely a duplicate. On the roof was a small living area composed of what looked like a couple bookshelves, what looked like an oven, and . . . was that a _bed_?

Ralph's jaw finally sealed itself at the sound of his protagonist's voice. "Oh my land," he said with a gloved hand hovering over his mouth.

"I-I can't believe it," Ralph said. "It looks just like home!"

Calhoun cleared her throat. "Ok, now this game is starting to give me the creeps. Is there anything you can't do here? I mean look at it! It looks like it was copied and pasted here," she said, gesturing to the building in front of them. None of them noticed as Kat stopped walking down the hill to turn and look up at them.

"Oh, you like it? I thought you would," she said with a hint of pride hidden in her tone. "Grace and I spent hours on this thing. We love Fix-It Felix Junior, so we came up with enough bricks to make it. It turned out pretty well I think. I'm not all that sure of how the roof turned out, I feel like something's missing, but whatever. I'm still feeling good about it. What about you?"

Ralph craned his head downward to look at Kat looking up at them. Not knowing what else to do to acknowledge her question, he nodded stupidly. Kat turned her back to them and continued down the hill.

"Alright, let's get upstairs so that I can craft a few things. Then we'll be on our way."

The only thing that snapped Ralph out of his stupor of stunned disbelief was the sound of Vanellope shuddering.

"Ok, now _I'm_ freaked out. This girl is just a few marbles short of a complete set if you know what I mean. I mean, don't you guys think that this is just a little bit weird?" Felix and Ralph looked down to the girl. "Well, I do find it a bit peculiar,"

"Peculiar?" Vanellope parroted. "No, no, no. What would be peculiar is if Ralph here ever gets a date." Ralph's eyes suddenly shot wide open.

"Hey!"

"But this," she continued, pointing to the tower before them, "this is just plain spooky. I mean, she said so herself, she spent hours making that! She's a complete whack job! I say we ditch her."

Ralph nearly flinched at the mere mention of Vanellope's idea. "What? You wanna- Vanellope, I'm sorry, but that is a horrible idea!" She put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. "And why is that, Mister I'm afraid of a little bug?"

Ralph raised one finger. "First off, those spiders are anything but little. Secondly, it's a bad idea because we still need her! Without Kat, we'll be stuck here, I thought you understood that." Before Vanellope could reply, Felix interrupted.

"I'm afraid he's right, Vanellope. I know this all seems . . . er . . . surreal. But the fact of the matter is that we really have no other way out of here, not without her." Vanellope sighed. "Fine, fine."

Calhoun then felt the need to put in her thoughts. "Besides, I think it's kind of cute. You two have a fan," she chuckled.

Vanellope turned to look up at the sergeant. "It's not just them, remember. She loves us too!"

Before their conversation could continue, Kat, who had already made her way down to the bottom of the hill and beside the entrance to the penthouse, called up to them. "Hey! You guys coming?"

Calhoun didn't give the others a chance to back out of Kat's invitation. She trudged past Ralph and started down the hill. "I should get some slippers for your guys' cold feet. Come on, let's go."

Felix looked up to Ralph, shrugged, and followed his wife. Ralph then followed suit, leaving Vanellope at the top with wide eyes as she watched Ralph walk down the hill. Before she could call down to him to proclaim her frustration at following the crazy lady any further, a new sound made its way to her ears.

KSKSKS KSKS.

She turned and looked down the other side of the hill.

Down at the bottom, the very bottom, standing behind the entrance to the forest stood . . . someone. A figure that resembled Kat was peeking past a tree and staring straight at Vanellope with tiny, white eyes.

Vanellope blinked, rubbed her eyes and looked down again, only to find . . . nothing.

The figure had vanished.

"What the?" Suddenly, the idea of following Kat and the others seemed more favorable than finding out what the heck she just saw was.

She turned on her heel and bolted down the hill to follow Ralph and the others.

She reached Ralph just as he stepped foot on the final step of the hill, giving her just enough time to leap off of her step and soar onto Ralph's shoulder. She landed on her stomach with an "oof!" Ralph could only smile as he reached up, picked her up by the hood of her sweatshirt and place her in a sitting position.

All the while, she was mentally deciding on whether she should tell Ralph of the strange creature she saw just a moment ago, but decided against it to spare the paranoia that was sure to follow at the mere mention of a strange new creature.

Now riding on her friends' shoulder, she remained silent as Ralph followed Felix and Calhoun to the entrance of the mock penthouse. Vanellope sighed. "I still don't like the looks of this place. What if this girl just turns out to be a crazy stalker chick and will never let us leave?"

Ralph shrugged. "I dunno kid. I really couldn't tell ya. We just have to stick with her and hope for the best. Sooner or later, I'm sure we'll get outa here."

Vanellope let out a dry laugh. "This coming from the guy who said that I had little to no chance making it out on my own? That's a good one." Ralph grunted and narrowed his eyes at the child on his shoulder. "And here I am trying to be optimistic. I just can't win with you, can I?"

Vanellope smirked. "Nope." Ralph rubbed his knuckle gently across her chin. "C'mon you little sugar crazed guttersnipe. Let's go."

The closer Ralph came to the penthouse, the more he felt at home. Both he and Felix knew that it was but a mere imitation of the real deal. But, strangely enough, it gave Ralph a reassuring, almost comforting feeling inside. The four of them had been inside this game for Litwak knows how long and each of them have been growing increasingly homesick.

Ralph and Felix, mainly Felix couldn't help but wonder how the Nicelanders were handling their absence. Were they looking for them? Did they know they were even gone?

What about Sugar Rush or Hero's Duty? Are they suffering the same consequences that Fix-It Felix Jr. is no doubt facing? Ralph couldn't help but let out a breath of guilt at the thought of their games going out of order because of a simple mistake.

Ralph's train of thought was cut off by Kat's voice. "Alright, let's go inside." Ralph had been in self thought since the moment he and Vanellope had stopped talking and hadn't even realized that the penthouse was now dominating over the four of them, Kat half way through the doorway and inside the building.

It was then that Ralph came to a quick, yet painfully obvious realization. The moment he saw Felix and Calhoun walk effortlessly into the doorway followed quickly by Vanellope who had jumped off of his shoulder and marched into the entrance, Ralph froze.

Vanellope quickly stopped, turned on her heal and faced Ralph with a raised eyebrow. Before she could question his hesitance, she looked up and scanned the doorway with her large hazel eyes. She looked back at Ralph and winced sympathetically. Ralph only sighed. There was no way he could fit through that thing without damaging anything.

"Um, hey guys," Vanellope called to Felix and Calhoun who then stopped walking and turned to face the child. With half lidded eyelids, Vanellope pointed behind her shoulder with her thumb to Ralph. Catching on immediately, Felix let out a quick worried breath while Calhoun let out a quick snort of sympathy and guilty pleasure which she couldn't keep to herself.

After a scathing glance to his wife for her tiny outburst, Felix turned to Ralph and shrugged. "You, uh, think you could climb up? Like you do back in our game?" Ralph leaned back to look up at the menacingly tall building with his hands on his hips. He sucked in a breath through his teeth and looked back at Felix. "I don't think so, Felix."

Felix nodded. "Bad idea anyways. If you fell, you wouldn't . . . um, you know."

Ralph nodded unappreciatively at the reminder. Calhoun finally decided to speak her mind. "Well, we've seen how fragile this world is, just barge your way through that thing and let's get a move on." Ralph, Felix and Vanellope simultaneously cringed at the idea. "You sure that's a good idea? Kat warned us not to break anything of hers." Felix reminded his wife.

"Well, you've got your magic hammer. He smashes his way in, you fix it before she notices, and bing bang boom we're on our way."

Ralph rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I dunno . . . it just doesn't seem right. I don't wanna," Vanellope smacked her forehead. "Oh for crumbs sake, get your big butt in here before I . . ." She trailed off.

Ralph raised an eyebrow. "What?" He asked worriedly, staring directly at Vanellope's wide eyes that were swimming with fear. She raised a shaky finger. "Ralph! Behind you!" She shrieked.

Ralph gasped and spun on his heel to look behind him faster than any of them could blink. Before he could get a good look at what was behind him, he tripped over his feet and fell backwards into the doorway, breaking the surrounding cubes around the doorway and falling straight to the floor with a thud. And before he knew it, he was gazing straight up at the ceiling of the first floor of the mock penthouse, the lower half of his body still lying outside on the grass.

Before Ralph could even think about what had just happened, Vanellope burst out laughing. "PPPPPFFFFFFTTTTTT HHHHAAAAHAHHAAAHAHHAHAAAAAAA!" Ralph sat upright and patted his chest and other parts of his body to ensure that he was alright. Once he was confident his code was still in one piece, he looked over his shoulder to shoot a scathing glare at the child who was quite literally rolling on the floor laughing, clutching her stomach with a face growing redder by the second.

Ralph huffed. "Very funny, kid."

Vanellope pushed herself into a sitting position, gasped a few times for air and panted with her hand on her chest, the normal tan color returning to her face. "W-well, you-you're inside now, aren't you?" She chuckled. Ralph rolled his eyes.

"She's got a point, Wreck-It. Felix honey, wanna patch up that doorway before the walking rectangle sees?" Calhoun asked, gesturing toward the gaping hole where the door once was. Felix tipped his hat politely, maneuvered his way around Ralph's body, and tapped the empty spaces in the doorway, and the cubes reappeared in their original places. Felix let out a breath and holstered his hammer.

"Good as new," he said proudly, rubbing his hands together. He glanced down to Ralph. "You wanna get up now, partner?" Ralph responded by grumpily wiping his hand over his face, propping himself on his elbows and standing with hunched shoulders as to not damage the ceiling.

He glared down at Vanellope, who had just successfully caught her breath and stood back up to her feet. "Play a joke like that on me again kid and I'll kick you so hard you'll be back in Litwak's before you can say ow you little gremlin." She placed her fists on her hips and looked up at him with big, puppy dog eyes, fluttering her eyelids dreamily. Before she could make a sharp quip, Kat's footsteps were heard from behind.

They looked to the wall behind them and saw wall mounted stairs leading up into the ceiling. From the hole in the ceiling came Kat, her rectangular form hopping down each step, her cubed head rotated down to look at them.

"Um, you guys coming, or what?"

_Later_,

"I . . . hate . . . stairs . . ." Ralph gasped.

Vanellope came up from behind him and pushed on his legs to keep him walking. "Good gosh, Ralph. You what made you so out of shape? Get going!"

For the past eleven flights of stairs, Ralph has been huffing and gasping for breath, but despite his lack of breath, he couldn't help but notice what was on every individual level they passed.

On the second level was five row of book cases. The fifth level was covered with posters of pixelated zombies and Creepers. The twelfth level had a pool. A _pool_! How she could possibly fit an entire pool indoors, Ralph had no idea.

The other levels consisted of more bookshelves, posters, some beds, cubes with textures that were made to resemble what looked like stoves, and other objects that shouldn't be possible to even use in a kooky game like this.

By the time the group had reached the top level, which was the roof, all air had forced itself out of his lungs. Felix sproinged and hopped joyfully to the top with Calhoun not far behind. Vanellope was behind Ralph, attempting to motivate him. "Come on! You can do it you big baby!"

When they reached the stop, Ralph was relieved for two reasons; his trip to the top was finally over and Vanellope could get off his back . . . literally. She had been riding piggyback on Ralph and shouting in his ear the entire walk up. Once they reached the top and stepped foot on the roof, Vanellope hopped off and landed on his side, patting his leg supportively.

"Way to go, big guy!"

It was then that Ralph collapsed to one knee and placed his hands on the ground, breathing deep breaths. Felix looked to his friend worriedly. "Um, you ok there, brother?"

Ralph waved off his concern. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it." Before Felix could voice his concern any further, Kat spoke up. "Alright guys, just hold tight, I've gotta craft some diamond tools. Just give me like . . . five minutes? Seven tops."

Vanellope raised an eyebrow. "She's doing what now?" Felix shrugged. "Something about diamonds. Maybe that's what we had to go underground for," he suggested.

None of them said anything else as Kat turned her back to them, and made her way to the edge of the roof, making her way past a bed and more bookshelves. She went completely silent as she leaned over another cube with a three by three grid pattern on it, her arms twitching back and forth. As she 'worked', various items appeared in each cube.

Ralph scratched his head with one finger confusedly. "So . . . now what? Just wait until she's done?"

Felix shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you . . . but I would like to talk to you about your lack of breath, recently. I'm a little worried about it."

Ralph glanced down at Felix. "What? Why? I was just . . . you know, stairs don't really agree with me." Felix shook his head. "But that just doesn't make any sense! You climb and destroy a building on a daily basis in our game without breaking a sweat! And suddenly, just a few flights of stairs and you look about ready to pass out, friend."

Vanellope widened her eyes worriedly. "What are you saying, Felix?"

Felix rubbed the back of his neck. "Well . . . I've got a bad feeling about this place." Calhoun snorted. "Uh, yeah. We've established that before. None of us like it here and we just want to get out."

Felix raised his hand defensively. "I'm aware of that, dear. But just take a look at Ralph. He's breathless, literally! I think this game is having a negative effect on him, maybe even us! We've been gone from our game for who knows how long and been overexposed to this game. I think the longer we're here . . ." he gulped.

"The weaker we become," his wife gratefully finished, earning a dreadful nod from Felix.

"Well, that's odd. Because I feel fine," Vanellope added.

Felix came up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It probably just works at different rates, Vanellope. We could all start,"

"Ok, ok, ok!" Ralph interrupted. "I don't wanna hear any more talk about us getting weaker as we go! We're supposed to be optimistic here! Remember? We're gonna get outa here, we're gonna make it back home before any of our games get unplugged, and we're gonna do it soon!"

Everyone looked up at Ralph with wide, fearful eyes. Ralph let out a breath and stood upright. "Thank you."

"Finished!"

The four of them jumped in almost perfect unison. They looked over at Kat, who had turned around and was holding a new object in her hand.

"What'd you guys think? Looks good, right?"

In her hand was another pickaxe. But not a pickaxe from earlier in the cave they were in. It was purely aqua in color, its edges reflecting the light and into Vanellope's eyes.

"Finally got a diamond pickaxe! You guys know how fast this thing can cut through obsidian, right? We've gotta collect some in the Nether World."

Vanellope's eyes nearly bugged out. "We're going where, now?"

Kat continued. "And it's a good thing we got the Ender Pearls from down there too. These are going to come in handy."

Immediately after she said that, the aqua pickaxe disappeared and was replaced with a small, oval object that was outlined in black and a green circle in the center.

Felix and Vanellope raised their eyebrows. "What in the name of Left Twix is that?"

No one answered. Rather, they all watched Kat as she walked over to the edge of the roof. And with a flick of her wrist, an object, perfectly identical to the one she was holding, floated out of her hand, rose into the air, and glided into the horizon. Everyone's eyes followed the tiny object as it vanished out of sight.

They looked back to Kat. "There it is," she exclaimed. "That's where the Ender Portal is."

_Later_,

The group of five had made it down the steps, Ralph completely out of breath once again. They reached the bottom level and made their way to the doorway. Ralph sighed as he watched his friends exited the building. He rolled his eyes, caught his breath, and walked calmly to the door.

With a face of severe and utter indifference, he broke through the doorway effortlessly without so much as glancing back at the broken door as he made his way to the group that had clustered together.

"Alright, I've only seen this done on Youtube videos, but have never actually done it. With these Eyes of Ender, we can go find the Portal to the Ender World. You guys ready?" Ralph and the others nodded.

"Alright," Kat continued. "Let's go kill that dragon."

For a single, fleeting moment, it seemed as though all time around them froze.

"Um . . . excuse me, miss crazy lady. But, did you just say 'dragon'?"

Before any of them could voice their anxiety about facing a dragon, a familiar noise reached Vanellope's ears.

KSKSKS KSKS

Her heart sank.

"What was that?" Felix asked.

It came again.

KSKSKSKS

They turned. At the top of the hill, a tall, blocky figure emerged and came running down. Ralph noticed how much it resembled Kat: cubed head, rectangular limbs, legs and body. The major difference between the two of them was that this new figure was dressed in what looked like a light green t-shirt, and had a similar pair of blue jeans. The most shocking difference between the two was that as opposed to Kat's blue eyes, this new figure had eyes of pure, intimidating white.

Ralph waved it off as just some sort of new player doing their own thing. That was until Kat practically screamed so loud, the entire game and its inhabitants could hear.

"It's him! It's Herobrine!"


End file.
